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THE CASTAWAYS 
OF THE FLAG *8? 






BOOKS BY JULES VERNE 


THE LIGHTHOUSE AT THE END OF THE WORLD 
THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 
THEIR ISLAND HOME 








Resistance was Hopeless against an entire crew of mutineers, 

(Page 38) 



THE CASTAWAYS 
OF THE FLAG 

THE FINAL ADVENTURES OF 
THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON 


JULES YERNE / 

AUTHOR OF 

“THE LIGHTHOUSE AT THE END OF THE WORLD,” 
“THEIR ISLAND HOME,” ETC. 

Frontispiece by 

H. C. MURPHY 



NEW YORK 

G. HOWARD WATT 
1819 BROADWAY 
1924 












Copyright, 1924, by 

G. HOWARD WATT 


TZ-s 



Printed in the United States of America 

AUG 21 1924 

© Cl A 8 0 0 5 3 3 




CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Preface—“The Swiss Family Robinson” 
and Its Sequel “Their Island 


CHAPTER 

Home” .... 

vii 

r. 

The Castaways . 

i 

ii. 

In England 

16 

hi. 

The Mutiny on the Flag . 

30 

IV. 

Land Ahoy! 

44 

V. 

A Barren Shore 

57 

VI. 

Time of Trial . 

76 

VII. 

The Coming of the Albatross 

96 

VIII. 

Little Bob Lost 

hi 

IX. 

Bob Found 

. 125 

X. 

The Flag on the Peak! . 

. 141 

XI. 

By Well-Known Ways 

. 156 

XII. 

Enemies in the Promised Land 

• 174 

XIII. 

Shark’s Island . 

189 

XIV. 

A Perilous Plight . 

207 

XV. 

Fighting for Life 

217 

XVI. 

Conclusion 

• 237 


v 



“THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG” 

translator’s note 

With the restoration of Fritz Zermatt and his wife 
Jenny, his brother Frank and the other Castaways of 
the Flag to their anxious and sorely tried relatives in 
New Switzerland, the story of “The Swiss Family 
Robinson” is brought to its proper end. Thereafter, 
the interest of their domestic life is merged in that of 
the growth of a young colony. Romance is merged in 
history and the romancer’s work is finished. Jules Verne 
has here set the coping stone on the structure begun by 
Rudolph Wyss, and in “The Swiss Family Robinson,” 
“Their Island Home” and “The Castaways of the 
Flag” we have, not a story and two sequels, but a com¬ 
plete trilogy which judges who survey it must pro¬ 
nounce very good. 

A word may be permitted about this English version. 
Jules Verne is a master of pure narrative. His style is 
singularly limpid and his language is so simple that 
people with a very limited knowledge of French can read 
his stories in the original and miss very little of their 
substance. But to be able to read a book in one language 
and to translate it into another are very different things. 
The very simplicity of Jules Verne’s French presents 
difficulties to one who would translate it into English. 
What the French call “idiotismes” abound in all 
Verne’s writing, and I know few French authors to 
whose books it is so difficult to impart a really English 
air in English dress. Whatever the imperfections of 
these translations may be they cannot, however, mar very 
greatly the pleasure the stories themselves give to every 
reader. 


Cranstoun Metcalfe. 


PREFACE 


T HIS story is a sequel to “Their Island 
Home,” which takes up the adventures 
of the Swiss Family Robinson at the 
place where the author of the original narra¬ 
tive dropped them. 

“The Swiss Family Robinson” seems to 
have affected Jules Verne’s literary bent as 
no other book ever did. It gave him that lik¬ 
ing for the lonely island life as the basis of 
a yarn which is conspicuous in much of his 
work. In a preface to the story of which this 
is really a part he tells how firmly New Swit¬ 
zerland established itself in the fabric of his 
thoughts, till it became for him a real island 
inhabited by real people. At last he was com¬ 
pelled to write about it, and “Their Island 
Home” and “The Castaways of the Flag” are 
the result. 

The youth of Europe—many generations of 
it—owes a big debt to the old romancer who 
worked for so many years in his turret room 
at Amiens to entertain it. From that room, 
with its many bookshelves, came volume after 
volume of adventure, mostly with a big ad¬ 
mixture of the scientific. M. Verne was not 


viii THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


one of those who pile hairbreadth escapes one 
upon another till they become incredible. 
There are plenty of things happening in his 
books, but they are the sort of things that 
would happen, given the circumstances, and 
he explains why and how they chanced in the 
most convincing manner possible. In these 
days of submarines and aeroplanes it is inter¬ 
esting to read again the wonderful French¬ 
man’s forecast of them in such books as 
4 ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea” 
and “The Clipper of the Clouds.” “Round 
the World in Eighty Days”—the task would 
be an easy one now, but at the time when he 
wrote it required great ingenuity to make it 
seem possible; and the end of that book is 
one of the most ingenious things in fiction, 
though it has for justification a simple geo¬ 
graphical fact. Phineas Fogg was a day late, 
as he believed. He had apparently lost his 
wager. But, having gone round the world in 
the right direction, he had gained a day, and 
just won. If he had gone the other way he 
would have been two days late, for a day would 
have been lost to him—cut right out of the 
calendar! 

The cryptogram which forms the main 
feature of “The Giant Raft”—the deflection 
of the compass in “Dick Sands,” which causes 
the people on the ship of which Dick had to 
take command to reach the coast of Africa, 


PREFACE 


IX 


while believing that they had landed on the 
American continent—the device of the mil¬ 
lionaire in “ Godfrey Morgan / 7 which pro¬ 
vided an island with beasts of prey not native 
to it—the gigantic projectile which carried 
those intrepid voyagers to the moon and round 
it—the reaching of the interior of the earth 
by a road down the crater of one volcano and 
the return to the surface up the crater of an¬ 
other—these are imaginations not readily for¬ 
gotten. And the other stories—“Five Weeks 
in a Balloon/’ “The Adventures of Three 
Englishmen and Three Russians/’ “The Trib¬ 
ulations of a Chinaman/’ the yarns dealing 
with the Indian Mutiny, “Michael Strogoff: 
the Courier of the Czar,” and the rest—how 
entrancing they were, and still are to a boy, 
or a man with something of the boy yet in him! 

“THEIR ISLAND HOME.” 

Readers of the present book who have not 
read that named above—though all should 
read it as well as this—will have no difficulty 
in joining the story of the castaways to “The 
Swiss Family Robinson” with the help of the 
brief sketch of its contents which follows. 

The story begins with the arrival of the 
Unicorn, a British corvette commanded by 
Lieutenant Littlestone, whose commission in¬ 
cludes the exploration of the waters in which 
New Switzerland is situate. He has with him 


X 


THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


as passengers Mr. and Mrs. Wolston and their 
daughters Hannah and Dolly. 

When the Unicom weighs anchor again Mr. 
Wolston and his wife and their elder daughter, 
Hannah, remain on the island. But the cor¬ 
vette takes away Fritz and Frank Zermatt and 
Jenny Montrose, who are all hound for Eng¬ 
land, where Jenny hopes to find her father, 
Colonel Montrose, and the two young men have 
much business to transact, and Dolly Wolston, 
who is to join her brother James—a married 
man with one child—at Cape Town. Mr. 
Wolston hopes that James, with his wife and 
child, will agree to accompany Dolly and the 
Zermatts—by the time they return Jenny will 
have become Mrs. Fritz Zermatt—to the island 
and take up their abode there. 

The Unicorn gone, those left behind settle 
themselves down to await her return, labour¬ 
ing meanwhile to make ready the island 
against the possibility of a number of immi¬ 
grants. One of their first improvements is a 
canal for irrigation purposes. Mr. Wolston, 
a skilful engineer, and Ernest, clever and 
thoughtful, reader of many books and with a 
distinct scientific bent, are quite capable of 
planning such things as this. 

There are seven people left on the island— 
M. and Mme. Zermatt, Mr. and Mrs. Wolston, 
Jack Zermatt, adventurous and keen on sport, 
Ernest, and the charming Hannah. Between 


PREFACE 


xi 


these last two a strong affection develops. The 
brothers, very unlike in nature, have little in 
common, but are good friends in spite of that 
fact; and the whole seven form practically one 
united and very happy family. 

Only a small part of the island has ever been 
really explored during the ten years the Zer- 
matts have been there. They now determine 
to find out more about it. In their pinnace, 
the Elizabeth, they voyage to a hitherto un¬ 
known coast, and, after a very arid stretch, 
find the mouth of a river, capable of floating 
the pinnace. They christen this the Mont¬ 
rose, in compliment to Jenny. 

To the south they see a great mountain 
range. In order to get as near this as pos¬ 
sible Mr. Wolston and Ernest make a canoe 
trip up the Montrose, but are stopped at length 
by rapids and a great natural dam. 

They all return to Rock Castle and face the 
dull days of the rainy season, which proves 
more stormy than usual, and does some dam¬ 
age to their possessions elsewhere than at Rock 
Castle. That season over, they make prepara¬ 
tions for another expedition—this time wholly 
by land, and made by Mr. Wolston, Jack, and 
Ernest only, M. Zermatt remaining with the 
three ladies. 

The three are determined to reach the top¬ 
most peak of the mountain range, and after 
some considerable difficulty they achieve their 


xii THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


object. They plant the British flag there, 
Lieut. Littlestone having provisionally taken 
possession of the island in Great Britain’s 
name, and they christen the mountain crest 
Jean Zermatt Peak. From it they discern out 
at sea a ship flying the British colours. But 
she disappears, to their intense disappoint¬ 
ment. 

At Rock Castle those left behind grow anx¬ 
ious when the time the explorers had expected 
to be away lengthens itself by several days. 
Then Mr. Wolston and Ernest turn up—with¬ 
out Jack. 

That adventurous young man has wandered 
off after three elephants, in the ‘hope of cap¬ 
turing and taming the calf after killing the 
father and mother. They have searched in 
vain for him, and are almost forced to the con¬ 
clusion that something tragic must have hap¬ 
pened. 

But Jack turns up, safe and sound. He has, 
however, an alarming tale to tell. It would 
seem that their days of peace *on the island 
are numbered. He has been captured by sav¬ 
ages, and, though he has escaped by adroit 
courage, all know that the chance of the sav¬ 
ages finding the Promised Land is one with 
which they must reckon. 

The Unicorn is now past the time appointed 
for her return, and the seven have thus a 
double reason for anxiety. 


PREFACE 


xiii 

Here “Their Island Home” finishes, and in 
the present book may be read what came of it 
all, and in what way they emerged from heavy 
trouble into peace and prosperity even greater 
than of old. 









THE 

CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


CHAPTERI 

THE CASTAWAYS 

N IGHT—a pitch-dark night! It was 
almost impossible to distinguish sky 
from sea. From the sky, laden with 
clouds low and heavy, deformed and tattered, 
lightning flashed every now and then, followed 
by muffled rolls of thunder. At these flashes 
the horizon lit up for a moment and showed 
deserted and melancholy. 

No wave broke in foam upon the surface of 
the sea. There was nothing but the regular 
and monotonous rolling of the swell and the 
gleam of ripples under the lightning flashes. 
Not a breath moved across the vast plain of 
ocean, not even the hot breath of the storm. 
But electricity so charged the atmosphere that 
it escaped in phosphorescent light, and ran up 
and down the rigging of the boat in tongues 
of Saint Elmo’s fire. Although the sun had 
set four or five hours ago, the sweltering heat 
of the day had not passed. 

Two men talked in low tones, in the stern of 
1 


2 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 

a big ship’s boat that was decked in to the foot 
of the mast. Her foresail and jib were flap¬ 
ping as the monotonous rolling shook her. 

One of these men, holding the tiller tucked 
under his arm, tried to dodge the cruel swell 
that rolled the boat from side to side. He was 
a sailor, about forty years of age, thick-set 
and sturdy, with a frame of iron on which 
fatigue, privation, even despair, had never 
taken effect. An Englishman by nationality, 
this boatswain was named John Block. 

The other man was barely eighteen, and did 
not seem to belong to the sea-faring class. 

In the bottom of the boat, under the poop 
and seats, with no strength left to pull the 
oars, a number of human beings were lying, 
among them a child of five years old—a poor 
little creature whose whimpering was audible, 
whom its mother tried to hush with idle talk 
and kisses. 

Before the mast, upon the poop, and near 
the jib stays, two people sat motionless and 
silent, hand in hand, lost in the most gloomy 
thoughts. So intense was the darkness that it 
was only by the lightning flashes that they 
could see each other. 

From the bottom of the boat a head was 
lifted sometimes, only to droop again at once. 

The boastwain spoke to the young man lying 
by his side. 

“No, no. I watched the horizon until the 
sun went down. No land in sight—not a sail! 


THE CASTAWAYS 3 

But what I didn’t see this evening will per¬ 
haps be visible at dawn.” 

“But, bo’sun,” his companion answered, 
“we must get to land somewhere in the next 
forty-eight hours, or we shall have suc¬ 
cumbed.” 

“That’s true,” John Block agreed. “Land 
must appear—simply must. Why, continents 
and islands were made on purpose to give shel¬ 
ter to brave men, and one always ends by get¬ 
ting to them!” 

“If the wind helps one, bo’sun.” 

“That is the only reason wind was in¬ 
vented, ’ ’ John Block replied. ‘ ‘ To-day, as bad 
luck would have it, it was busy somewhere 
else, in the middle of the Atlantic or the Pa¬ 
cific perhaps, for it didn’t blow enough here 
to fill my cap. Yes, a jolly good gale would 
blow us merrily along.” 

“Or swallow us up, Block.” 

“Oh no, not that! No, no, not that! Of 
all ways to bring this job to a finish, that 
would be the worst.” 

“Who can tell, bo’sun?” 

Then for some minutes the two men were 
silent. Nothing could be heard but the gentle 
rippling under the boat. 

“How is the captain?” the young man went 
on. 

“Captain Gould, good man, is in bad case,” 
J ohn Block replied. ‘ ‘ How those blackguards 
knocked him about! The wound in his head 


4 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


makes him cry out with pain. And it was an 
officer in whom he had every confidence who 
stirred those wretches up! No, no! One fine 
morning, or one fine afternoon, or perhaps one 
fine evening, that rascal of a Borupt shall 
make his last ugly face at the yardarm or-” 

“The brute! The brute!” the young man 
exclaimed, clenching his fists in wrath. “But 
poor Harry Gould! You dressed his wounds 
this evening, Block-” 

“Ay, ay; and when I put him back under 
the poop, after I had put compresses on his 
head, he was able to speak to me, though very 
feebly. ‘Thanks, Block, thanks,’ he said—as 
if I wanted thanks! ‘And land? What about 
land?’ he asked. ‘You may be quite sure, cap¬ 
tain,’ I told him, ‘that there is land some¬ 
where, and perhaps not very far off.’ He 
looked at me and closed his eyes.” 

And the boatswain murmured in an aside: 

“Land? Land? Ah, Borupt and his ac¬ 
complices knew very well what they were 
about! While we were shut up in the bottom 
of the hold, they altered the course; they went 
some hundreds of miles away before they cast 
us adrift in this boat—in seas where a ship 
is hardly ever seen, I guess.” 

The young man had risen. He stooped, 
listening to port. 

“Didn’t you hear anything, Block?” he 
asked. 

“Nothing, nothing at all,” the boatswain 




THE CASTAWAYS 5 

answered; ‘‘this swell is as noiseless as if it 
were made of oil instead of water.’’ 

The young man said no more, but sat down 
again with his arms folded across his breast. 

Just at this moment one of the passengers 
sat up, and exclaimed, with a gesture of de¬ 
spair : 

“I wish a wave would smash this boat up, 
and swallow us all up with it, rather than 
that we should all be given over to the horrors 
of starvation! To-morrow we shall have ex¬ 
hausted the last of our provisions. We shall 
have nothing left at all.” 

“ To-morrow is to-morrow, Mr. Wolston,” 
the boatswain replied. “If the boat were to 
capsize there wouldn’t be any to-morrow for 
us; and while there is a to-morrow-” 

“John Block is right,” his young compan¬ 
ion answered. “We must not give up hope, 
James! Whatever danger threatens us, we 
are in God’s hands, to dispose of as He thinks 
fit. His hand is in all that comes to us, and 
it is not right to say that He has withdrawn 
it from us.” 

“I know,” James whispered, drooping his 
head, “but one is not always master of one’s 
self.” 

Another passenger, a man of about thirty, 
one of those who had been sitting in the bows, 
approached John Block and said: 

“Bo’sun, since our unfortunate captain was 
thrown into this boat with us—and that is a 



6 ■THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


week ago already—it is you who have taken 
his place. So our lives are in your hands. 
Have you any hope?” 

“Have I any hope?” John Block replied. 
“Yes! I assure you I have. I hope these in¬ 
fernal calms will come to an end shortly and 
that the wind will take us safe to harbour.” 

“Safe to harbour?” the passenger an¬ 
swered, his eyes trying to pierce the darkness 
of the night. 

“Well, what the deuce!” John Block ex¬ 
claimed. 44 There is a harbour somewhere! All 
we have to do is to steer for it, with the wind 
whistling through the yards. Good Lord! If 
I were the Creator I would show you half a 
dozen islands lying all round us, waiting our 
convenience! ’’ 

“We won’t ask for as many as that, bo’sun,” 
the passenger replied, unable to refrain from 
smiling. 

“Well,” John Block answered, “if He will 
drive our boat towards one of those which 
exist already, it will be enough, and He need 
not make any islands on purpose, although, I 
must say, He seems to have been a bit stingy 
with them hereabouts!” 

44 But where are we ? ” 

44 1 can’t tell you, not even within a few hun¬ 
dred miles, ’ ’ John Block replied. 4 4 You know 
that for a whole long week we were shut up 
in the hold, unable to see what course the ship 
was shaping, whether south or north. Any- 


THE CASTAWAYS 


7 


how, it must have been blowing steadily, 
and the sea did plenty of rolling and chop¬ 
ping.” 

“That is true, John Block, and true, too, 
that we must have gone a long way; but in 
what direction?” 

“About that I don’t know anything,” the 
boatswain declared. “Did the ship go off to 
the Pacific, instead of making for the Indian 
Ocean? On the day of the mutiny we were 
off Madagascar. But since then, as the wind 
has blown from the west all the time, we may 
have been taken hundreds of miles from there, 
towards the islands of Saint Paul and Amster¬ 
dam.” 

“Where there are none but savages of the 
worst possible sort,” James Wolston re¬ 
marked. “But after all, the men who cast us 
away are not much better.” 

“One thing is certain,” John Block de¬ 
clared; “that wretch Borupt must have al¬ 
tered the Flag’s course and made for waters 
where he will be most likely to escape pun¬ 
ishment, and where he and his gang will play 
pirates! Sol think that we were a long way 
out of our proper course when this boat was 
cut adrift. But I wish we might strike some 
island in these seas—even a desert island 
would do! We could live all right by hunt¬ 
ing and fishing; we should find shelter in some 
cave. Why shouldn’t we make of our island 
what the survivors of the Landlord made of 


8 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


New Switzerland? With strong arms, brains, 
and pluck-” 

“Very true,” Janies Wolston answered, 
“but the Landlord did not fail her passengers. 
They were able to save her cargo, while we 
shall never have anything from the Flag’s 
cargo.” 

The conversation was interrupted. A voice 
that rang with pain was heard: 

“Drink! Give me something to drink!” 

“It’s Captain Gould,” one of the passengers 
said. “He is eaten up with fever. Luckily 
there is plenty of water, and-” 

“That’s my job,” said the boatswain. “Do 
one of you take the tiller. I know where the 
can is, and a few mouthfuls will give the cap¬ 
tain ease.” 

And John Block left his seat aft and went 
forward into the bows of the boat. 

The three other passengers remained in si¬ 
lence, awaiting his return. 

After being away for two or three minutes 
John Block came back to his post. 

“Well?” someone enquired. 

“Someone got there before me,” John Block 
answered. “One of our good angels was with 
the patient already, pouring a little fresh 
water between his lips, and bathing his fore¬ 
head that was wet with sweat. I don’t know 
whether Captain Gould was conscious. He 
seemed to be delirious. He was talking about 
land. ‘The land ought to be over there/ he 



THE CASTAWAYS 


9 


kept saying, and his hand was wobbling about 
like the pennon on the mainmast when all 
winds are blowing at once. I answered: ‘Ay, 
ay, captain, quite so. The land is somewhere! 
We shall reach it soon. I can smell it, to 
northwards. ’ And that is a sure thing. We 
old sailors can smell land like that. And I 
said too: ‘Don’t be uneasy, captain, every¬ 
thing is all right. We have a stout boat and 
I will keep her course steady. There must 
be more islands hereabouts than we could 
know what to do with. Too many to choose 
from! We shall find one to suit our con¬ 
venience—an inhabited island where we shall 
find a welcome and where we shall be sent 
home from.’ The poor chap understood what 
I said, I am sure, and when I held the lantern 
near his face he smiled to me—such a sad 
smile!—and at the good angel too. Then he 
closed his eyes again, and fell asleep almost 
at once. Well! I may have lied pretty heavily 
when I talked about land to him as if it were 
only a few miles off, but was I far wrong?” 

“No, Block,” the youngest passenger re¬ 
plied ; “that is the kind of lie that Glod allows.” 

The conversation ended, and the silence was 
only broken thereafter by the flapping of the 
sail against the mast as the boat rolled from 
one side to the other. Most of those who were 
aboard her, broken down by fatigue and weak¬ 
ened by long privation, forgot their terrors in 
heavy sleep. 


10 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


Although these unhappy people still had 
something wherewith to quench their thirst, 
they would have nothing wherewith to appease 
their hunger in the coming days. Of the few 
pounds of salt meat that had been flung into 
the boat when she was pushed off, nothing 
now remained. They were reduced to one bag 
of sea-biscuits for eleven people. How could 
they manage, if the calm persisted ? And for 
the last forty-eight hours not one breath of 
breeze had stolen through the stifling at¬ 
mosphere, not even one of those intermittent 
gusts which are like the last sighs of a dying 
man. It meant death by starvation, and that 
within a short time. 

There “was no steam navigation in those 
days. So the probability was that, in the ab¬ 
sence of wind, no ship would come into sight, 
and, in the absence of wind, the boat could not 
reach land, whether island or continent. 

It was necessary to have perfect faith in 
God to combat utter despair, or else to possess 
the unshakeable philosophy of the boatswain, 
which consisted in refusing to see any but the 
bright side of things. Even now he muttered 
to himself: 

“Ay, ay, I know; the time will come when 
the last biscuit will have been eaten; but as 
long as one can keep one’s stomach one mustn’t 
grumble, even if there is nothing to put in it! 
Now, if one hadn’t got a stomach left, even if 


THE CASTAWAYS 11 

there were plenty to put in it—that would be 
really serious!” 

Two hours passed. The boat had not moved 
a cable’s length, for there was only the motion 
of the swell to affect her. Now the swell does 
not move forward; it merely makes the surface 
of the water undulate. A few chips of wood 
that had been thrown over the side the day 
before were still floating close by, and the sail 
had not filled once to move the boat away from 
them. 

While merely afloat like this, it was little use 
to remain at the helm. But the boatswain de¬ 
clined to leave his post. With the tiller under 
his arm, he tried at least to avoid the lurching 
which tilted the boat to one side and another, 
and 'thus to spare his companions excessive 
shaking. 

It was about three o’clock in the morning 
when John Block felt a light breath pass 
across his cheeks, roughened and hardened as 
they were by the salt sea air. 

“Can the wind be getting up?” he mur¬ 
mured as he rose. 

He turned towards the south, and, wetting 
his finger in his mouth, held it up. There was 
a distinct sensation of coldness, caused by the 
evaporation, and now a distant rippling sound 
became audible. 

He turned to the passenger sitting on the 
middle bench, near one of the women. 

“Mr. Fritz!” he said. 


12 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


Fritz Robinson raised bis bead and bent 
round. 

“What do you want, bo’sun?” be asked. 

“Look over there—towards the east.” 

“What do you think you see?” 

“If I’m not mistaken, a kind of rift, like 
a belt, on the water-line.” 

Unmistakably there was a lighter line along 
the horizon in that direction. Sky and sea 
could be distinguished with more definiteness. 
It was as if a rent had just been made in the 
dome of mist and vapour. 

“It’s wind!” the boatswain declared. 

“Isn’t it only the first beginning of day¬ 
break?” the passenger asked. 

“It might be daylight, though it’s very early 
for it,” John Block replied, “and again it 
might be a breeze! I felt something of it in 
my beard just now, and look!—it’s twitching 
still! I’m aware it’s not a breeze to fill the 
top-gallant sails, but anyhow it’s more than 
we’ve had for the last four and twenty hours. 
Put your hand to your ear, Mr. Fritz, and 
listen; you’ll hear what I heard.” 

“You are right,” said the passenger, lean¬ 
ing over the gunwale; “it is the breeze.” 

“And we’re ready for it,” the boatswain 
replied, “with the foresail block and tackle. 
We’ve only got to haul the sheet taut to save 
all the wind which is rising.” 

“But where will it take us?” 

“Wherever it likes,” the boatswain an- 


THE CASTAWAYS 13 

swered; “all I want it to do is to blow us out 
of these cursed waters! ’ ’ 

Twenty minutes went by. The breath of 
wind, which at first was almost imperceptible, 
grew stronger. The rippling aft became 
louder. The boat made a few rougher mo¬ 
tions, not caused by the slow, nauseating 
swell. Folds of the sail spread out, fell flat, 
and opened again, and the sheet sagged against 
its cleats. The wind was not strong enough 
yet to fill the heavy canvas of the foresail and 
the jib. Patience was needed, while the boat’s 
head was kept to her course as well as might 
be by means of one of the sculls. 

A quarter of an hour later, progress was 
marked by a light wake. 

Just at this moment one of the passengers 
who had been lying in the bows got up and 
looked at the rift in the clouds to the eastward. 

“Is it a breeze?” he asked. 

“Yes,” John Block answered. “I think we 
have got it this time, like a bird in the hand— 
and we won’t let go of it!” 

The wind was beginning to spread steadily 
now through the rift, through which, too, the 
first gleams of light must come. From south¬ 
east to south-west, the clouds still hung in 
heavy masses, over three-quarters of the cir¬ 
cumference of the sky. It was still impos¬ 
sible to see more than a few cables’ lengths 
from the boat, and beyond that distance no 
ship could have been detected. 


14 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


As the breeze had freshened, the sheet had 
to be hauled in, the foresail, whose gear was 
slackened, hoisted, and the course veered a 
point or two, so as to give the jib a hold on 
the wind. 

“We’ve got it; we’ve got it!” the boatswain 
said cheerily, and the boat, heeling gently over 
to starboard, dipped her nose into the first 
waves. 

Little by little the rent in the clouds grew 
bigger and spread overhead. The sky assumed 
a reddish hue. It seemed that the wind might 
hold to the present quarter for some little 
time, and that the period of calms had come 
to an end. 

Hope of reaching land revived once more, 
or the alternative hope of falling in with a 
ship. 

At five o’clock the rent in the clouds was 
ringed with a collar of vivid coloured clouds. 
It was the day, appearing with the sudden¬ 
ness peculiar to the low latitudes of the tropi¬ 
cal regions. Soon purple rays of light arose 
above the horizon, like the sticks of a fan. The 
rim of the solar disc, heightened by the re¬ 
fraction, touched the horizon line, drawn 
clearly now at the end of sky and sea. At 
once the rays of light caught on the little 
clouds which hung in the high heaven, and 
dyed them every shade of crimson. But they 
were stubbornly arrested by the dense vapours 
accumulated in the north, and could not break 


THE CASTAWAYS 


15 


through them. And so the range of vision, 
long behind, was still extremely limited in 
front. The boat was leaving a long wake be¬ 
hind her now, marked in creamy white upon 
the greenish water. 

And now the whole sun emerged above the 
horizon, enormously magnified at its diameter. 
No haze dimmed its brilliance, which was in¬ 
supportable to the eye. All aboard the boat 
looked away from it; they only scanned the 
north, whither the wind was carrying them. 
The main question was what the fog screened 
from them in that direction. 

At length, just before half-past six, one of 
the passengers seized the halyards of the fore¬ 
sail and clambered nimbly up to the yardarm, 
just as the sun cleared the sky to the eastward 
with its early rays. 

And in a ringing voice he shouted: 

“Land!” 


CHAPTER II 


IN ENGLAND 

I T was on the 20th of October that the Uni¬ 
corn had left New Switzerland on her 
way back to England. On her return, 
when the Admiralty sent to take possession 
of the new colony in the Indian Ocean, after 
a brief stop at the Cape of Good Hope, she 
was to bring back Fritz and Frank Zermatt, 
Jenny Montrose and Dolly Wolston. The 
two brothers took the berths left vacant by 
the Wolstons who were now settled on the 
island. A comfortable cabin had been placed 
at the disposal of Jenny and her little com¬ 
panion Dolly, who was going to join James 
Wolston and his wife and child at Cape Town. 

After rounding the False Hope Point the 
Unicom sailed westward before the wind and 
came down to the south again, leaving the 
island of Burning Rock to her starboard. Be¬ 
fore finally leaving New Switzerland Lieu¬ 
tenant Littlestone decided to reconnoitre its 
eastern coast as well, in order to satisfy him¬ 
self that it really was an isolated island in 
these seas, and to form an approximate idea 
of the size of a colony which would soon be in¬ 
cluded among the island dominions of Great 
16 


IN ENGLAND 


17 


Britain. As soon as he had done this, the cor¬ 
vette, with a fair wind behind her, left the 
island to the north-west, after getting little 
more than a glimpse of its southern portion 
through the haze and fog. 

Fortune favoured the first few weeks of the 
voyage. The passengers on the Unicorn were 
delighted with the weather, as well as with 
the cordial treatment which they received 
from the commander and the other officers. 
When they all met at table in the officers’ mess, 
or under the awning on the poop, the conver¬ 
sation generally turned upon the wonders of 
New Switzerland. If the corvette met with 
nothing to delay her they all hoped to see it 
again within the year. 

Fritz and Jenny often talked of Colonel 
Montrose, and of the gladness that would be 
his when he clasped in his arms the daughter 
whom he had thought he would never see 
again. For three years no news had been re¬ 
ceived of the Dorcas, whose loss with nearly 
all hands had been confirmed, by the survivors 
who had been taken to Sydney. But when 
they reached England Jenny would present to 
her father the man who had rescued her, and 
would beg him to bless their union. 

As for Frank, though Dolly Wolston was 
only fourteen, it would not be without a bit¬ 
ter pang that he would leave her at Cape 
Town, and keen would be his longing to come 
back to her side! 


18 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


After crossing the Tropic, off the Isle of 
France, the Unicorn encountered less favour¬ 
able winds. These delayed her arrival at her 
port until the 17th of December, two months 
after her departure from New Switzerland. 

The corvette came to anchor in the harbour 
of Cape Town, where she was to remain for a 
week. 

One of the first visitors to come aboard was 
James Wolston. He knew that his father, 
mother, and two sisters had taken passages 
on the Unicorn, and his disappointment can 
be imagined at finding that there was only 
one sister for him to meet. Dolly presented 
Fritz and Frank Zermatt to him. 

“Your father and mother and sister Han¬ 
nah are living in New Switzerland now, Mr. 
Wolston,” Fritz told him; “an unknown 
island on which my family was cast twelve 
years ago, after the wreck of the Landlord . 
They have decided to remain there and ex¬ 
pect you to join them. When she comes back 
from Europe the Unicorn will take you and 
your wife and child to our island, if you are 
willing to go with us.” 

“When is the corvette due back at the 
Cape?” James Wolston enquired. 

“In eight or nine months,” Fritz replied, 
“and she will go from here to New Switzer¬ 
land where the British flag will be flying. My 
brother Frank and I have availed ourselves 
of this opportunity to take back to London 


IN ENGLAND 


19 


the daughter of Colonel Montrose who, we 
hope, will consent to come and settle with her 
in our second fatherland .’ 9 

“And with you too, Fritz dear; for you will 
have become his son,” Jenny added, giving 
him her hand. 

“That is my most ardent wish, Jenny dear,” 
said Fritz. 

“And we and our parents do very much 
want you to bring your family and settle in 
New Switzerland,” Dolly Wolston added. 

“You must insist on the fact, Dolly,” Frank 
declared, “that our island is the most wonder¬ 
ful island that has ever appeared above the 
sea.” 

“James will be the first to agree, when he 
has seen it,” Dolly answered. “When once 
you have set foot in New Switzerland, and 
stayed at Rock Castle-” 

“And roosted at Falconhurst, eh, Dolly?” 
said Jenny, laughing. 

“Yes, roosted,” the little girl replied; “well, 
then you will never want to leave New Swit¬ 
zerland again!” 

“You hear Mr. Wolston?” said Fritz. 

“I hear, M. Zermatt,” James Wolston an¬ 
swered. “To settle in your island and open 
up its first commercial relations with Great 
Britain is a proposition that I find peculiarly 
inviting. My wife and I will talk about it, 
and if we decide to go we will wind up our 
affairs and hold ourselves in readiness to em- 



20 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


bark upon the Unicom when she comes back 
to Cape Town. I am sure Susan will not hesi¬ 
tate.” 

“I will do whatever my husband wishes,” 
Mrs. Wolston said. 

Fritz and Frank shook James Wolston’s 
hand warmly as Dolly kissed her sister-in-law. 

“While the corvette stays here,” James 
Wolston then explained, “we expect you all 
to accept the hospitality of our house. That 
will be the best way to knit our friendship, 
and we will talk as much as you please about 
New Switzerland.” 

Naturally the passengers on the Unicorn ac¬ 
cepted this invitation in the spirit in which 
it had been offered. 

An hour later Mr. and Mrs. James Wolston 
received their guests. Fritz and Frank were 
given a room between them, and Jenny shared 
the one allotted to Dolly, as she had shared her 
cabin during the voyage. 

Mrs. James Wolston was a young woman of 
twenty-four, gentle, intelligent, and devoted 
to her husband. He was an earnest and active 
man, very much like his father. They had one 
boy, Bob, now five years old, whom they 
adored. 

During the ten days that the Unicorn re¬ 
mained in the port, from the 17th to the 27th 
of December, little was talked about but New 
Switzerland, the events of which it had been 
the stage, the various works undertaken, and 


IN ENGLAND 


21 


the many contrivances and improvements ef¬ 
fected on the island. The subject was never 
exhausted. Dolly would expatiate on all these 
wonderful things, and Frank would encour¬ 
age her to go on, and even find fault with her 
for not saying enough. Then Jenny Montrose 
would embroider the tale, to Fritz’s keen de¬ 
light. 

In a word, the time sped, and James Wol- 
ston and his wife quite made up their minds 
to leave the Cape for New Switzerland. Dur¬ 
ing the voyage of the corvette home and out 
again, Wolston would employ himself wind¬ 
ing up his affairs and realising his capital; 
he would be ready to start directly the Unicorn 
reappeared; and he would be one of the first 
emigrants to the island. 

The last good-byes had to be said at length, 
with the comforting reflection that in another 
eight or nine months they would be at Cape 
Town again, and that then they would all put 
to sea together, outward bound for New 
Switzerland. Nevertheless, the parting was a 
painful one. Jenny Montrose and Susan 
Wolston mingled their kisses and tears, to 
which Dolly’s were added. The child was 
much distressed by Frank’s departure, and 
his heart, too, was heavy, for he had grown 
very fond of her. As he and his brother 
clasped James Wolston’s hand they could as¬ 
sure themselves that they were leaving there 
a true friend indeed. 


22 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


The Unicorn put to sea on the 27th, in some¬ 
what overcast weather. Her passage was of 
average length. For several weeks winds va¬ 
ried from north-west to south-west. The cor¬ 
vette spoke Saint Helena, Ascension, and the 
Cape Yerde Islands. Then, after passing in 
sight of the Canaries and Azores, off the coasts 
of Portugal and France, she came up the 
Channel, rounded the Isle of Wight, and, on 
the 14th of February, dropped anchor at Ports¬ 
mouth. 

Jenny Montrose wanted to start at once for 
London, where her aunt lived. If the Colonel 
were on active service she would not find him 
there, since the campaign for which he had 
been recalled from India might have lasted 
for several years. But if he had retired, he 
would have settled near his sister-in-law, and 
it would be there that he would at length set 
eyes again upon her whom he believed to have 
perished in the wreck of the Dorcas . 

Fritz and Frank offered to escort Jenny to 
London, whither business called them also, 
and Fritz naturally wanted to meet Colonel 
Montrose soon. So all three set out the same 
evening, and arrived in London during the 
morning of the 23rd. 

But bitter grief fell upon Jenny Montrose. 
She learned from her aunt that the colonel 
had died during his last campaign, without 
the happiness of knowing that the daughter 
whom he had mourned for was still alive. 


IN ENGLAND 


23 


After coming back from the far waters of the 
Indian Ocean to embrace her father, hoping 
never to part from him again, to present her 
saviour to him, and to beg for his consent to 
their union and his blessing on it, Jenny would 
never see him more! 

Her distress was great. In vain her aunt 
lavished on her words of consolation; in vain 
Fritz sorrowed with her. The blow was too 
cruel. She had never even thought of the pos¬ 
sibility that her father might be dead. 

A few days later, in a conversation broken 
by tears and regrets, Jenny said to him: 

“Fritz, dear Fritz, we have just experi¬ 
enced the bitterest of misfortunes, you and I. 
If you have not changed your mind at all-” 

“Oh, Jenny, my darling!” Fritz exclaimed. 

“Yes, I know,” said Jenny, “and my father 
would have been happy to call you his son. I 
am sure he would have wanted to go with us 
and share our life in the new English colony. 
But I must give up that happiness. I am 
alone in the world now, and have only my¬ 
self to depend upon! Alone? No, no! You 
are there, Fritz.” 

“Jenny,” said the young man, “the whole 
of my life shall be devoted to your happiness.” 

“And mine to yours, Fritz dear! But since 
my father is no longer here to give us his con¬ 
sent, since I have no near relations living, and 
since yours is the only family I can call my 
own-” 



24 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


“You have belonged to it three years al¬ 
ready, Jenny dear, ever since the day when I 
found you on Burning Rock.” 

“I love them all, and they love me, Fritz! 
Well, in a few months more we shall be with 
them all again; we shall be back ” 

“Married, Jenny?” 

“Yes, Fritz, if you wish it, since you have 
your father’s consent and my aunt will not 
refuse me hers.” 

“Jenny, dear Jenny!” Fritz exclaimed, fall¬ 
ing on his knees beside her. “Our plans will 
not be changed at all, and I shall take back 
my wife to my father and mother.” 

Jenny Montrose remained henceforth in her 
aunt’s house, where Fritz and Frank came 
every day to see her. Meanwhile all the nec¬ 
essary arrangements were made for the cele¬ 
bration of the marriage within the briefest 
time that the law permitted. 

But there was other business of some im¬ 
portance to be attended to, business which had 
been the purpose of the two brothers in com¬ 
ing to Europe. 

There was the sale of the various articles of 
value collected on the island, the coral gath¬ 
ered on Whale Island, the pearls taken from 
the bay, the nutmegs and the vanilla. M. Zer¬ 
matt had not been mistaken about their mar¬ 
ket value. They produced the considerable 
sum of eight thousand pounds sterling. 

When one remembered that the banks of 


IN ENGLAND 


25 


Pearl Bay had been no more than skimmed, 
that coral was to be found on many parts of 
the coast, that nutmegs and vanilla could he 
produced in large quantities, and that there 
were many other treasures in New Switzer¬ 
land, one had to acknowledge that the colony 
was destined for a height of prosperity which 
set it in the foremost of the over-sea dominions 
of Great Britain. 

In accordance with M. Zermatt’s instruc¬ 
tions part of the sum realised from the sale of 
these articles was to he spent upon things re¬ 
quired to complete the stock at Rock Castle and 
the farms in the Promised Land. The rest, 
about three-quarters of the whole sum, and the 
ten thousand pounds coming from Colonel 
Montrose’s estate, were deposited in the Bank 
of England, upon which M. Zermatt would he 
able to draw in the future as he might require, 
thanks to the communication which would 
soon be established with the capital. 

Restitution was made of the various jewels 
and monies belonging to the families of those 
who had been lost with the Landlord, who had 
been traced after enquiry. 

Finally, a month after the arrival of Fritz 
Zermatt and Jenny Montrose in London, their 
marriage was celebrated there by the chaplain 
of the corvette. The Unicorn had brought 
them as an engaged couple, and would take 
them back to New Switzerland a married 
couple. 


26 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


All these events excited a considerable in¬ 
terest throughout Great Britain in the family 
which had been abandoned for a dozen years 
on an unknown island in the Indian Ocean, 
and in Jenny’s adventures and her stay on 
Burning Rock. The story which had been 
written by Jean Zermatt appeared in the Eng¬ 
lish and foreign newspapers, and under the 
title of “The Swiss Family Robinson,” it was 
destined to a fame equal to that won already 
by the immortal work of Daniel Defoe. 

The consequence of all this was that the 
'Admiralty decided to take possession of New 
Switzerland. Moreover, this new possession 
had some very considerable advantages to of¬ 
fer. The island occupied an important posi¬ 
tion in the east of the Indian Ocean, near the 
entrance to the Sunda seas, on the road to the 
Far East. Seven hundred and fifty miles at 
most separated it from the western coast of 
Australia. The sixth part of the world, dis¬ 
covered by the Dutch in 1605, visited by Abel 
Tasman in 1644 and by Captain Cook in 1774, 
was destined to become one of England’s prin¬ 
cipal dominions. Thus the Admiralty could 
but congratulate itself on its acquisition of an 
island so near that continent. 

And thus the despatch of the Unicorn to its 
waters was decided upon. The corvette would 
set out again in a few months under the com¬ 
mand of Lieutenant Littlestone, promoted cap¬ 
tain on this occasion. Fritz and Jenny Zer- 


IN ENGLAND 


27 


matt were to sail in her with Prank, and also 
a few colonists, pending the time when other 
emigrants, in larger numbers, would sail in 
other ships to the same destination. 

It was arranged that the corvette should 
put in at the Cape to pick up James and Susan 
and Dolly Wolston. 

The lengthy stay of the Unicorn at Ports¬ 
mouth was due to the fact that repairs of some 
magnitude had become absolutely necessary 
after her voyage from Sydney to Europe. 

Fritz and Prank did not spend the whole 
of this time in London or in England. They 
and Jenny regarded it as a duty to visit Swit¬ 
zerland, so as to be able to take to M. and Mme. 
Zermatt some news of their native land. 

So they went first to Prance, and spent a 
week in Paris. The Empire had just ended 
at this date, as also had the long wars with 
Great Britain. 

Fritz and Frank arrived in Switzerland, the 
country which they had almost forgotten, so 
young had they been when they left it, and 
from Geneva they went to the canton of Ap- 
penzel. 

Of their family none remained except a few 
distant relatives of whom M. and Mme. Zer¬ 
matt knew little. But the arrival of the two 
young men caused a great sensation in the 
Swiss Republic. Everybody knew the story of 
the survivors of the wreck of the Landlord, 
and knew the island now on which they had 


28 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


found refuge. Thus, although their fellow- 
countrymen were little inclined to run the 
risks involved in emigration, several declared 
their intention of joining those colonists to 
whom New Switzerland promised a cordial 
welcome. 

It was not without a pang that Fritz and 
Frank left the land of their origin. Even if 
they might hope to visit it again in the future, 
that was a hope which M. and Mme. Zermatt, 
advancing now in years, would hardly realise. 

Crossing France, Fritz and Jenny and 
Frank returned to England. 

Preparations for the sailing of the Unicorn 
were drawing to a close, and the corvette would 
be ready to set sail in the last few days of June. 

Both Fritz and Frank were received with 
flattering attention by the Lords of the Ad¬ 
miralty. England was grateful to Jean Zer¬ 
matt for having of his own free will offered 
Captain Littlestone immediate possession of 
his island. 

As has been explained, when the corvette 
left New Switzerland, the greatest portion of 
the island was still unexplored, save the dis¬ 
trict of the Promised Land, the littoral on the 
north, and part of the littoral on the east as 
far as Unicorn Bay. Captain Littlestone was 
therefore to complete its survey both on the 
west and south and also in the interior. In a 
few months more, several ships would be fitted 
out to take emigrants and the materials re- 


IN ENGLAND 


29 


quired in colonisation and to put the island 
in a proper state of defence. Then regular 
communication would be established between 
Great Britain and those distant waters of the 
Indian Ocean. 

On the 27th of June the Unicorn was ready 
to weigh anchor, and only waited for Fritz and 
Jenny and Frank. On the 28th the three ar¬ 
rived at Portsmouth, whither the stores pur¬ 
chased on behalf of the Zermatt family had 
been sent in advance. 

They were warmly welcomed aboard the 
corvette by Captain Littlestone, whom they 
had had one or two opportunities of meeting 
in London. How happy they were in the 
thought of seeing James and Susan Wolston 
again at Cape Town, and also the charming 
little Dolly, whom Frank had kept constantly 
supplied with news, and good news too, of 
everybody. 

In the morning of the 29th of June, the Uni¬ 
corn left Portsmouth with a fair wind, flying 
at the peak the English flag which was to be 
planted upon the shores of New Switzerland. 


CHAPTER III 


THE MUTINY ON THE FLAG 

A CABIN was reserved for Fritz and his 
wife in the Unicom, and an adjoining 
one for Frank, and they took their 
meals at Captain Littlestone’s table. 

Nothing of special note happened during the 
voyage. There were all the usual incidents, 
changeable seas, uncertain winds, calms, and 
a few violent outbreaks of heavy weather 
through which the corvette came without much 
damage. In the South Atlantic they passed 
a few vessels which would report tidings of the 
Unicorn in Europe. In the present interval 
of peace after the long period of great wars, 
the high seas were safe. 

But the Unicorn, which had had a fairly 
easy time while crossing the Atlantic, met with 
shocking weather when south of Africa. A 
violent storm burst on her during the night 
of the 19th of August, and the gale drove her 
out to sea again. The hurricane grew more 
and more violent, and they had to run before 
it, as it was impossible to lie to. Captain Lit- 
tlestone, splendidly supported by his officers 
and crew, displayed great skill. The mizzen 

30 


THE MUTINY ON THE FLAG 


31 


mast had to be cut away, and a leak was sprung 
aft which was only smothered with difficulty. 
At last, when the wind fell, Captain Little- 
stone was able to resume his course and hur¬ 
ried to the harbour at Cape Town for repairs. 

On the morning of the 10th of September the 
top of the Table, the mountain which gives its 
name to the bay, was sighted. 

Directly the Unicorn had found her moor¬ 
ings, James Wolston, with his wife and Dolly, 
came out in a boat. 

What a welcome they gave Fritz and Jenny 
and Frank, and how happy they all were! 

For the last ten months they had perforce 
been without news. Although there was no 
particular ground for imagining that anything 
untoward had befallen the people at Hock 
Castle, this absence could not but seem very 
long. 

James Wolston’s affairs had all been wound 
up satisfactorily. 

But they found themselves confronted by 
the impossibility of putting to sea at once. 
The damage done to the Unicorn was serious 
enough to necessitate a prolonged stay in Cape 
Town harbour. It would take two or three 
months to make repairs, after her cargo had 
been taken out of the corvette. She could not 
possibly sail for New Switzerland before the 
end of October. 

But the passengers on the Unicorn had an 


32 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


unexpected opportunity of shortening their 
stay at the Cape. 

There happened to be in the harbour a ves¬ 
sel, due to sail in a fortnight. She was the 
Flag, an English three-masted vessel of five 
hundred tons, captain Harry Gould, bound for 
Batavia, in the Sunday Islands. To put in at 
New Switzerland would take her very little 
out of her course, and the passengers for the 
island were prepared to pay a good price for 
their passage. 

Their proposal was accepted by Captain 
Gould, and the Unicorn’s passengers trans¬ 
ferred their baggage to the Flag . 

The three-master’s preparations were fin¬ 
ished in the afternoon of the 20th of Septem¬ 
ber. That evening they said good-bye, not 
without regret, to Captain Littlestone, prom¬ 
ising to look out for the arrival of the Unicorn 
at the mouth of Deliverance Bay towards the 
end of November. 

Next morning the Flag sailed, with a favour¬ 
ing wind from the south-west, and before the 
evening of that first day the high summits of 
the Cape, left forty miles behind, disappeared 
below the horizon. 

Harry Gould was a fine sailor, with cool 
courage equal to his resolution. He was now 
in the prime of life, at forty-two, and had 
shown his quality both as mate and captain. 
His owners had every confidence in him. 

To this confidence, Robert Borupt, the sec- 


THE MUTINY ON THE FLAG 


33 


ond officer on the Flag, was not entitled. He 
was a man of the same age as Harry Gould, 
jealous, vindictive, and of uncontrolled pas¬ 
sions. He never believed that he received the 
due meed of his merits. Disappointed in his 
hope of being given the command of the Flag, 
he nursed at the bottom of his heart a secret 
hatred of his captain. But his temper had 
not escaped the vigilance of the boatswain, 
John Block, a fearless, reliable man devoted 
heart and soul to his chief. 

The crew of the Flag, mustering some score 
of men, was not of the first-class, as Captain 
Gould very well knew. The boatswain noticed 
with disapproval the indulgence too often 
shown by Robert Borupt to some of the sailors, 
when fault should have been found with them 
for neglect of duty. He thought that all this 
was suspicious, and he watched the second of¬ 
ficer, fully determined to give Captain Gould 
warning, if needful. 

Nothing of note happened between the 22nd 
of August and the 9th of September. The 
condition of the sea and the direction of the 
wind were alike favourable to the ship’s prog¬ 
ress, though the breeze was a shade too light. 
If the three-master were able to maintain the 
same rate of progress she would reach New 
Switzerland waters about the middle of Oc¬ 
tober, within the time anticipated. 

But about this time the crew began to mani¬ 
fest symptoms of insubordination. It even 


34 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 

looked as though the second and third officers, 
in defiance of every sense of duty, connived at 
this relaxing of discipline. Robert Borupt, 
influenced by his own jealous and perverse na¬ 
ture, took no steps to check the disorder. 

But the Flag continued to make her way 
north-east. On the 9th of September she was 
almost in the middle of the Indian Ocean, on 
the line of the Tropic of Capricorn, her posi¬ 
tion being 20° 17' latitude and 80° 45' longi¬ 
tude. 

During the course of the previous night 
symptoms of bad weather had appeared—a 
sudden fall of the barometer, and a gathering 
of storm clouds, both signs of the formidable 
hurricanes that too often lash these seas to 
fury. 

About three o’clock in the afternoon a squall 
got up so suddenly that it almost caught the 
ship—a serious matter for a vessel which, 
heeled over to one side, cannot answer to her 
rudder and is in danger of not being brought 
up again unless her rigging is cut away. If 
that is done, she is disabled, incapable of of¬ 
fering any resistance to the waves while lying 
to, and is at the mercy of the ocean’s fury. 

As soon as this storm broke the passengers 
had, of course, been obliged to keep their 
cabins, for the deck was swept by tremendous 
seas. Only Fritz and Frank stayed on deck 
to lend a hand with the crew. 

Captain Gould took the watch at the outset, 


THE MUTINY ON THE FLAG 


35 


and the boatswain was at the wheel, while the 
second and third officers were on duty in the 
forecastle. The crew were at their posts, 
ready to obey the captain’s orders, for it was 
a matter of life and death. The slightest mis¬ 
take in the handling of her, while the seas were 
breaking over the Flag as she lay half over 
on the port side, might have meant the end. 
Every effort must be made to get her up 
again, and then to trim her sails so as to bring 
her head on to the squall. 

And yet the mistake was made, not delib¬ 
erately perhaps, for the ship ran the risk of 
foundering through it, but certainly through 
some misunderstanding of the captain’s or¬ 
ders, of which an officer ought not to have 
been capable, if he possessed any of the in¬ 
stincts of a sailor. 

Robert Borupt, the second officer, alone was 
to blame. The foretopsail, trimmed at a wrong 
moment, drove the ship still farther over, and 
a tremendous lump of water crashed over the 
taffrail. 

“That cursed Borupt wants to sink us!” 
cried Captain Gould. 

“He has done it!” the boatswain answered, 
trying to shove the tiller to starboard. 

The captain leaped to the deck and made his 
way forward at the risk of being swept back 
by the water. After a desperate struggle he 
reached the forecastle. 

“Get to your cabin!” he shouted in a voice 


36 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


of wrath to the second officer; “get to your 
cabin, and stop there!” 

Borupt’s blunder was so patent that not one 
of the crew dared to protest, although they 
were all ready to stand by him if he had given 
them the word. He obeyed, however, and went 
back to the poop. 

What was possible to do, Captain Gould 
did. He trimmed all the canvas that the Flag 
could carry, and succeeded in bringing her up 
without being obliged to cut away the rigging. 
The ship no longer lay broadside on to the sea. 

For three consecutive days they had run be¬ 
fore the storm in constant peril. During al¬ 
most the whole of that time Susan and Jenny 
and Dolly were obliged to keep to their cabins, 
while Fritz, Frank, and James Wolston helped 
in the various operations. 

At last, on the 13th of September, an abate¬ 
ment of the storm came. The wind dropped, 
and although the sea did not immediately drop 
too, at last the waves no longer swept the deck 
of the Flag . 

The ladies hurried eagerly out of their cab¬ 
ins. They knew what had taken place between 
the captain and the second officer, and why the 
latter had been removed from his post. Robert 
Borupt’s fate would be decided by a naval 
court when they got back. 

There was much damage to the canvas to be 
made good, and John Block, who was in charge 



For three days they had run before the storm. 

("Page 36) 












THE MUTINY ON THE FLAG 


37 


of this work, saw quite clearly that the crew 
were on the verge of mutiny. 

This state of things could not he lost upon 
Fritz, or Frank, or James Wolston, and it 
filled them with more uneasiness than the 
storm had caused them. Captain Gould would 
not shrink from the severest measures against 
the mutineers. But was he not too late ? 

During the following week there was no 
actual breach of discipline. As the Flag had 
been carried some hundreds of miles to the 
east, she had to turn back to the west, in order 
to get into the longitude of New Switzerland. 

On the 20th of September, about ten o’clock, 
much to the surprise of all, for he had not been 
released from arrest, Robert Borupt reap¬ 
peared on the deck. 

The passengers, who were all sitting to¬ 
gether on the poop, had a presentiment that 
the situation, grave enough already, was about 
to become still more grave. 

Directly Captain Gould saw the second of¬ 
ficer coming forward he went up to him. 

“Mr. Borupt,” he said, “you are under ar¬ 
rest. What are you doing here? Answer!” 

i ‘I will!’’ cried Borupt loudly. “And this is 
my answer!” 

Turning to the crew, he shouted: 

“Come on, mates!” 

“Hurrah for Borupt!” sang from every 
part of the ship! 

Captain Gould rushed down into his cabin 


38 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


and came back with a pistol in Ms band. But 
be was not given time to use it. A shot, fired 
by one of tbe sailors round Borupt, wounded 
bim in tbe bead, and be fell into tbe boat¬ 
swain’s arms. 

Resistance was hopeless against an entire 
crew of mutineers, beaded by tbe first and 
second officers. John Block, Fritz, Frank, and 
James Wolston, drawn up near Captain Gould 
tried in vain to maintain tbe struggle. In a 
moment they were overwhelmed by numbers, 
and ten sailors bustled them down to tbe spar- 
deck with tbe captain. 

Jenny, Dolly, Susan, and tbe child were shut 
into their cabins, over which a guard was 
placed by order of Borupt, now ruler of tbe 
ship. 

The situation of tbe prisoners in tbe semi¬ 
darkness of tbe spar-deck, and of tbe wounded 
captain whose bead could only be dressed with 
cold compresses, was a bard one. Tbe boat¬ 
swain was unfailing in bis devotion to tbe 
captain. 

Fritz and Frank and James Wolston were 
consumed by appalling anxiety. Tbe three 
women were at tbe mercy of tbe mutineers of 
tbe Flag! Tbe men suffered agony from tbe 
thought that they were powerless. 

Several days passed. Twice a day, morn¬ 
ing and evening, tbe hatch of tbe spar-deck 
was opened and tbe prisoners were given some 
food. To tbe questions that John Block asked 


THE MUTINY ON THE FLAG- 39 

them, the sailors only replied with brutal 
threats. 

More than once did the boatswain and his 
companions try to force up the hatch and re¬ 
gain their liberty. But the hatch was guarded 
day and night, and even if they had succeeded 
in raising it, overpowering their guards, and 
getting up on deck, what chance would they 
have had against the crew, and what would 
have been the result ? 

“The brute! The brute!” said Fritz over 
and over again, as he thought of his wife and 
Susan and Dolly. 

“Yes; the biggest rascal alive!” John Block 
declared. “If he doesn’t swing some day it 
will be because justice is dead!” 

But if the mutineers were to be punished, 
and their ringleader given the treatment he 
deserved, a man-of-war must catch and seize 
the Flag . And Robert Borupt did not commit 
the blunder of going into waters where ships 
were numerous, and where he and his gang 
might have run the risk of being chased. He 
must have taken the ship far out of her proper 
course, most probably to the eastward, with 
the object of getting away alike from ships 
and the African and Australian shores. 

Every day w r as adding a hundred, or a hun¬ 
dred and fifty, miles to the distance separating 
the Flag from the meridian of New Switzer¬ 
land. Captain Gould and the boatswain could 
tell from the angle at which the ship heeled to 


40 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


port that she was making good speed. The 
creaking of the mast steps showed that the 
first officer was cramming on sail. When the 
Flag arrived in those distant waters of the 
Pacific Ocean where piracy was practicable, 
what would become of the prisoners ? The mu¬ 
tineers would not be able to keep them; would 
they maroon them on some desert island ? But 
anything would be better than to remain on 
board the ship, in the hands of Robert Bo- 
rupt and his .accomplices. 

A week had passed since Harry Gould and 
his friends had been shut up on the spar-deck, 
without a word about the women. But on the 
27th of September, it seemed as if the speed 
of the three-master had decreased, either be¬ 
cause she was becalmed or because she was 
hove to. 

About eight o’clock in the evening a squad 
of sailors came down to the captives. 

These had no choice but to obey the order to 
follow him which the second officer gave them. 

What was going on above? Was their lib¬ 
erty about to be restored to them? Or had a 
party been formed against Robert Borupt to 
restore Captain Gould to the command of the 
Flag? 

When they were brought up on to the deck 
in front of all the crew, they saw Borupt wait¬ 
ing for them at the foot of the mainmast. 
Fritz and Frank cast a vain glance within the 


THE MUTINY ON THE FLAG 


41 


poop, the door of which was open. No lamp 
or lantern shed a gleam of light within. 

But as they came up to the starboard net¬ 
tings, the boatswain could see the top of a mast 
rocking against the side of the ship. 

Evidently the ship’s boat had been lowered 
to the sea. 

Was Borupt preparing, then, to put the cap¬ 
tain and his friends aboard her and cast them 
adrift in these waters, abandoning them to all 
the perils of the sea, without the least idea 
whether they were near any land ? 

And the unfortunate women, too, were they 
to remain on board, exposed to such appalling 
danger ? 

At the thought that they would never see 
them more, Fritz and Frank and James de¬ 
termined to make a last attempt to set them 
free, though it should end in dying where they 
stood. 

Fritz rushed to the side of the poop, calling 
Jenny. But he was stopped, as Frank was 
stopped, and James was stopped before he 
heard any answer from Susan to his call. They 
were overpowered at once, and despite re¬ 
sistance were lowered with Captain Gould and 
John Block over the nettings into the ship’s 
boat, which was fastened alongside the vessel 
by a knotted cable. 

Their surprise and joy—yes, joy!—were in¬ 
expressible. The dear ones whom they had 
called in vain were in the boat already! The 


42 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


women had been lowered down a few minutes 
before the prisoners had left the spar-deck. 
They were waiting in mortal terror, not know¬ 
ing whether their companions were to be cast 
adrift with them. 

It seemed to them that to be reunited was 
the greatest grace that Heaven could have be¬ 
stowed on them. 

And yet what peril menaced them aboard 
this boat! Only four hags of biscuit and salt 
meat had been flung into it, with three casks 
of fresh water, a few cooking utensils, and a 
bundle of clothes and blankets taken at ran¬ 
dom from the cabins—a meagre supply at best. 

But they were together! Death alone could 
separate them henceforward. 

They were not given much time to reflect. 
In a few moments, with the freshening wind, 
the Flag would be several miles away. 

The boatswain had taken his place at the 
tiller, and Fritz and Frank theirs at the foot 
of the mast, ready to hoist the sail directly the 
boat should be free from the shelter of the ship. 

Captain Gould had been laid down under 
the forward deck. Jenny was ministering to 
him where he lay stretched out on the blankets, 
for he was unable to stand. 

On the Flag the sailors were leaning over the 
nettings, looking on in silence. Not one of 
them felt a spark of pity for their victims. 
Their fierce eyes gleamed in the darkness. 

Just at this moment a voice was raised—the 


THE MUTINY ON THE FLAG 


43 


voice of Captain Gould, to whom his indigna¬ 
tion restored some strength. He struggled to 
his feet, dragged himself from bench to bench, 
and half stood up. 

“You brutes !” he cried. “You shall not 
escape man’s justice!” 

“Nor yet God’s justice!” Frank added. 

“Cast off!” cried Borupt. 

The rope dropped into the water, the boat 
Was left alone, and the ship disappeared into 
the darkness of the night. 


CHAPTER IV 

LAND AHOY! 

I T was Frank who had shouted “Land!” in 
tones of stentorian salutation. Standing 
erect upon the poop, he had thought he 
could see vague outlines of a coast through a 
rift in the fog. So he seized the halyards and 
scrambled to the masthead where, sitting 
astride the yard, he kept his eyes fixed steadily 
in the direction where he had seen it. 

Close upon ten minutes passed before he 
caught another glimpse to the northward. He 
slid to the foot of the mast. 

“You saw the coast?” Fritz asked sharply. 
“Yes, over there; under the rim of that 
thick cloud which hides the horizon now.” 

“Are you sure you were not mistaken, Mr. 
Frank?” John Block said. 

“No, bos’un, no, I was not mistaken! The 
cloud has spread over the place again now, 
but the land is behind it. I saw it; I swear I 
saw it!” 

Jenny had just risen and grasped her hus¬ 
band’s arm. 

“We must believe what Frank says,” she 

44 ' 


LAND AHOY! 45 

declared. “His sight is wonderfully keen. He 
could not make a mistake.” 

“I haven’t made a mistake,” Frank said. 
“You must all believe me, as Jenny does. I 
saw a cliff distinctly. It was visible for nearly 
a minute through a break in the clouds. I 
couldn’t tell whether it ran to the east or the 
west; but, island or continent, the land is 
there!” 

How could they be sceptical about what 
Frank declared so positively? 

To what land the coast belonged they might 
learn when the boat had reached it. Anyhow, 
her passengers, five men, namely Fritz and 
Frank and James, Captain Gould and the 
boatswain John Block, and three women, 
Jenny, Dolly, and Susan, together with the 
child, would most certainly disembark upon 
its coast, whatever it might be. 

If it offered no resources, if it were unin¬ 
habitable, or if the presence of natives made 
it dangerous, the boat would put to sea again, 
after revictualing as well as possible. 

Captain Gould was immediately informed 
and, in spite of his weakness and pain, he in¬ 
sisted on being carried to the stern of the boat. 

Fritz began to make some comments about 
the signalled land. 

“Wliat is of the most concern to us at the 
present moment, is its distance from here. 
Given the height from which it was observed, 
and also the foggy state of the atmosphere, 


46 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


the distance cannot be more than twelve or 
fifteen miles. ” 

Captain Gould made a sign of assent, and 
the boatswain nodded. 

“So with a good breeze blowing towards the 
northward/’ Fritz went on, “two hours should 
be enough to take us to it.” 

“Unfortunately,” said Frank, “the breeze 
is very uncertain, and seems to be inclined to 
go back. If it doesn’t drop altogether I am 
afraid it may be against us.” 

“What about the oars?” Fritz rejoined. 
“Can’t we take to the oars, my brother and 
James, and I, while you take the tiller, bos’un ? 
We could row for several hours.” 

“Take to the oars!” Gould commanded, in 
an almost inaudible voice. 

It was a pity that the captain was not in a 
fit state to steer, for, with four of them to row, 
the crew might have made a better job of it. 

Besides, although Fritz and Frank and 
James were in the full vigour of youth, and the 
boatswain was a sturdy fellow still, and all 
were thoroughly hardened to physical exer¬ 
cise, yet they were terribly weakened now by 
privation and fatigue. A week had passed 
since they had been cast adrift from the Flag. 
They had economised their provisions, yet only 
enough remained to last them for twenty-four 
hours. On three or four occasions they had 
caught a few fish by trailing lines behind the 
boat. A little stove, a little kettle, and a sauce- 


LAND AHOY! 


47 


pan were all the utensils they possessed, be¬ 
sides their pocket knives. And if this land 
were no more than a rocky island, if the boat 
were obliged to resume her painful course for 
more long days, looking for a continent or an 
island where existence might be possible— 
what then ? 

But all felt hope reviving again. Instead of 
the boat that was threatened by squalls and 
tossed about by the waves and half filled by 
the sea, they would at least feel firm ground 
under their feet. They would install them¬ 
selves in some cave to shelter there from bad 
weather. Perhaps they would find a fertile 
soil, with edible roots and fruits. And there 
they would be able to await the passing of a 
ship, without need to fear hunger or thirst. 
The ship would see their signals, would come 
to the rescue of the castaways—all that and 
more they saw through the mirage of hope! 

Did the coast thus seen belong to some group 
of islands situated beyond the Tropic of Capri¬ 
corn ? That was what the boatswain and Fritz 
discussed in undertones. Jenny and Dolly had 
resumed their seats in the bottom of the boat, 
and the little boy was sleeping in Mrs. Wol- 
ston’s arms. Captain Gould, eaten up with 
fever, had been carried back under the poop, 
and Jenny was soaking compresses in cold 
water to lay upon his head. 

Fritz propounded many theories, none of 
them very encouraging. He was pretty sure 


48 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


that the Flag had sailed a long way to the east 
during the week after the mutiny. In that 
case the boat would have been cast adrift in 
that part of the Indian Ocean where the charts 
show only a few islands, Amsterdam and Saint 
Paul, or, farther south, the archipelago of 
Kerguelen. Yet even in these islands, the 
former deserted, the latter inhabited, life 
would be assured, salvation certain, and—who 
could say?—some day or other they might be 
able to get home from there. 

Besides, if since the 27th of September, the 
ship’s boat had been carried northwards by 
the breeze from the south, it was just possible 
that this land was part of the Australian con¬ 
tinent. If they got to Hobart Town, Mel¬ 
bourne, or Adelaide, they would be safe. But 
if the boat landed in the south-west portion, 
in King George’s Bay or by Cape Leeuwin, 
a country inhabited by hordes of savages, the 
position would be more serious. Here at sea 
there was at least a chance of falling in with 
a ship bound for Australia or some of the Pa¬ 
cific Islands. 

“Anyhow, Jenny,” said Fritz to his wife, 
who had taken his place by her side again, 
“we must be a long way—hundreds of miles— 
from New Switzerland.” 

“No doubt,” Jenny answered, “but it is 
something that land is there! What your 
family did in your island, and what I did on 
the Burning Rock, we can do again, can’t we? 


LAND AHOY! 


49 


After being tried as we have been, we have a 
right to have confidence in our own energy. 
Two of Jean Zermatt’s sons can’t lose heart.” 

“My dear wife,” Fritz replied, “if ever I 
were to falter I should only have to listen to 
you! No; we will not fail, and we shall be 
splendidly backed up. The boatswain is a man 
on whom to rely utterly. As for the poor cap¬ 
tain-” 

“He will get over it, he will get well, Fritz, 
dear,” Jenny said confidently. “The fever 
will drop. When we get him to land he will be 
better attended to, and will pick up his 
strength, and we shall find our leader in him 
once more.” 

“Ah, Jenny, dear,” exclaimed Fritz, press¬ 
ing her to his heart, “may God grant that this 
land can offer us the resources that we need! 
I don’t ask for as much as we found in New 
Switzerland; we cannot expect that. The 
worst of all would be to encounter savages, 
against whom we have no defence, and to be 
obliged to put to sea again without getting 
fresh provisions. It would be better to land 
upon a desert shore even only an island. There 
will be fish in its waters and shells on its 
beaches, an^L perhaps flocks of birds, as we 
found when w;e got to the shore at Rock Castle. 
We shall conrnve to revictual, and after a 
week or two, when we have had a rest and 
the captain has recovered his strength, we 
could set out to discover a more hospitable 



50 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


coast. This boat is sound and we have an ex¬ 
cellent sailor to manage her. The rainy sea¬ 
son is not nearly due yet. We have lived 
through some storms already, and we should 
live through more. Let this land, whatever it 
is, only give us some fresh provisions, and 
then, with the help of God-” 

“Fritz, dear,” Jenny answered, clasping her 
husband’s hands in her own, “you must say 
all that to our companions. Let them hear 
you, and they will not lose heart.” 

“They never have, for a moment, dear 
wife,” said Fritz; “and if they ever should 
falter, it is you, bravest and most capable of 
women, the English girl of Burning Rock, 
who would give them hope once more!” 

All thought as Fritz did of this brave Jenny. 
While they had been shut up in their cabins 
it was from her that Dolly and Susan had been 
encouraged to resist despair. 

One advantage this land seemed to have. It 
was not like New Switzerland, through whose 
waters merchant vessels never passed. On the 
contrary, whether it were the southern coast 
of Australia or Tasmania, or even an island 
in the archipelagoes of the Pacific, its position 
would be marked in the naval charts. 

But even if Captain Gould and his compan¬ 
ions could entertain some hope of being picked 
up there, they could not be otherwise than 
profoundly distressed by the thought of the 
distance that separated them from New Swit- 


LAND AHOY! 


51 


zerland—hundreds of miles, no doubt, since the 
Flag had sailed steadily eastwards for a whole 
week. 

It was now the 13th of October. Nearly a 
year had passed since the Unicom had left 
the island, whither she was due to return about 
this time. At Rock Castle, M. and Mme. Zer¬ 
matt, Ernest and Jack, Mr. and Mrs. Wolston 
and Hannah, were counting the days and 
hours. 

In a few weeks more, after her stay at Cape 
Town, the Unicorn would appear in New 
Switzerland waters, and then the Zermatts and 
Wolstons would learn that their missing dear 
ones had taken their passage in the Flag, 
which had not been seen again. Could they 
doubt that she had perished with all hands 
in one of the frequent storms that rage in the 
Indian Ocean ? Would there be room for hope 
that they would ever see her passengers again ? 

All that was in the future, however; the im¬ 
mediate present held quite enough formidable 
possibilities to engage their attention. 

Ever since Prank had pointed out the land, 
the boatswain had been steadily steering in a 
northerly direction, not an easy task without 
a compass. The position indicated by Frank 
was only approximate, and unfortunately the 
thick curtain veiled the horizon line, which, 
from observers on the level of the sea, must 
still be ten or twelve miles away. 

The oars had been got out. Fritz and James 


52 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


were rowing with all the strength they could 
exert. But in their state of exhaustion they 
could not lift the heavily loaded boat, and it 
would take them the entire day to cover the 
distance which lay between them and the shore. 

God grant that the wind might not thwart 
all their efforts! On the whole it would be 
better if the calm endured till evening. Should 
the breeze blow from the north, the boat would 
be carried far back from these waters. 

By midday it was questionable whether 
more than a couple of miles had been done 
since morning. The boatswain suspected that 
a current was setting in the opposite direction. 

About two o’clock in the afternoon John 
Block, who was standing up, exclaimed:— 

“A breeze is coming; I can feel it! The jib 
by itself will do more than the oars.” 

The boatswain was not mistaken. A few 
minutes later little flaws began to paint green 
the surface of the water in the south-west, 
and a creamy ripple spread right to the sides 
of the boat. 

“That shows you are right, Block,” said 
Fritz. “But still, the breeze is so faint that 
we must not stop rowing.” 

“We won’t stop, Mr. Fritz,” the boatswain 
answered; “let us plug away until the sail can 
carry us towards the coast.” 

“Where is it?” asked Fritz, trying in vain 
to look through the curtain of fog. 

“Right in front of us, for sure!” 


LAND AHOY! 


53 


“Is it so certain, Block?” Frank pnt in. 

“Where would you have it be, except behind 
that cursed fog up there in the north?” the 
boatswain retorted. 

“We would have it there all right,” Janies 
Wolston said. “But that is not surety 
enough!” 

And they could not possibly know, unless the 
wind should freshen. 

This it made no haste to do, and it was after 
three when the flapping of the half-clewed 
sail showed that it might now be of use. 

The oars were taken in, and Fritz and Frank 
hoisted the foresail and hauled it in hard, 
while the boatswain secured the sheet which 
was thrashing the gunwale. 

Was it nothing more than a capricious 
breeze, whose intermittent breath would not 
be strong enough to disperse the fog? 

For twenty minutes more doubt reigned. 
Then the swell took the boat broadside on, and 
the boatswain had to bring her head round 
with one of the sculls. The foresail and the 
jib bellied out, drawing the sheets quite taut. 

The direction they had to take was north¬ 
ward, until the wind should clear the horizon. 

They hoped that this might happen as soon 
as the breeze had got so far. So all eyes were 
fixed in that direction. If the land showed 
only for one moment, John Block would ask 
no more, but would steer for it. 

But no rift appeared in the veil, although 


54 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


the wind seemed to acquire force as the sun 
went down. The boat was moving fairly fast. 
Fritz and the boatswain were beginning to 
wonder if they had passed the land. 

Doubt crept into their hearts again. Had 
Frank been mistaken, after all ? Had he really 
caught sight of land to the northward? 

He declared again most positively that he 
had. 

“It was a high coast/* he declared again, 
“a cliff with an almost horizontal crest, and 
it was impossible to mistake a cloud for it.” 

“Yet, since we are bearing down upon it,” j 
Fritz replied, “we ought to have reached it by 
now. It could not have been more than twelve 
or fifteen miles off then.” 

“Are you sure, Block,” Frank went on, 
“that you have been steering the boat on to 
it all the time, and that it was due north?” 

“It is possible that we have got on a wrong 
tack,” the boatswain acknowledged. “And so 
I think it would be better to wait until the 
horizon clears, even if we have to stay where 
we are all night.” 

That might be the best thing to do. But if 
the boat were close to the shore it would not 
be wise to risk it among the reefs which prob¬ 
ably fringed it. 

So all listened intently, trying to detect the 
least sound of surf. 

Nothing was to be heard—none of the long 
and sullen rolling of the sea when it breaks 


LAND AHOY! 55 

upon reefs of rocks, or bursts in foam upon 
the beach. 

The utmost caution had to be exercised. 
About half-past five, the boatswain ordered the 
foresail to be struck. The jib was left as it 
was, to give steerage way. 

It was the wisest thing to do, to reduce the 
speed of the boat until the land was sighted. 

At night, in the midst of such profound 
darkness, there was danger in venturing near 
a coast—danger of counter-currents drifting 
on to it, though there might be no wind. In 
similar conditions a ship would not have de¬ 
layed until the evening to put out again and 
seek the security of the open sea. But a boat 
cannot do what a ship may. To tack up against 
the southerly wind, which was freshening now, 
would have involved a risk of getting too far 
away—not to mention the severe toil. 

So the boat stayed where it was, with only 
the jib sail set, hardly moving, her head 
pointed north. 

But at last all uncertainty and all possibil¬ 
ity of mistake was removed. About six o’clock 
in the evening the sun showed itself for a mo¬ 
ment before disappearing below the waves. 

On the 21st of September it set exactly in the 
west, and on the 13th of October, twenty-three 
days after the equinox, it set a little above in 
the southern hemisphere. Just at that mo¬ 
ment the fog lifted, and Fritz could see the 
sun drawing near to the horizon. Ten minutes 


56 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


later its fiery disc was flush with the line of 
sky and sea. 

“That is the north, over there!” said Fritz, 
pointing with his hand to a point rather to the 
left of that on which the boat was headed. 

Almost at once he was answered by a shout, 
a shout that all of them uttered together. 

“Land! Land!” 

The mist had just dispersed, and the coast 
line was revealed not more than a mile away. 

The boatswain steered straight for it. The 
foresail was set again and swelled out in the 
dying breeze. 

Half an hour later the boat had grounded 
on a sandy beach, and was made fast behind a 
long point of rock, well sheltered from the 
surf. 


CHAPTER y 4 


A BARREN SHORE 

T HE castaways had reached land at last! 
Not one of them had succumbed to the 
fatigue and privations of their fort¬ 
night’s voyage under such distressing and dan¬ 
gerous conditions, and for that thanks were 
due to God. Only Captain Gould was suffer¬ 
ing terribly from fever. But in spite of his 
exhaustion, his life did not appear to be in 
danger, and a few days’ rest might set him up 
again. 

The question rose, what was this land on 
which they had disembarked ? 

Whatever it was, it unhappily was not New 
Switzerland, Where, but for the mutiny of 
Robert Borupt and his crew, the Flag would 
have arrived within the expected time. What 
had this unknown shore to offer instead of the 
comfort and prosperity of Rock Castle? 

But this was not the moment to waste time 
over such questions. The night was so dark 
that nothing could be seen except a strand 
backed by a lofty cliff, at its sides bastions of 
rock. It was settled that all should remain 

57 


58 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


in the boat until sunrise. Fritz and the boat¬ 
swain were to keep watch until the morning. 
The coast might be frequented by natives, and 
vigilance was necessary. Whether it were 
Australian continent or Pacific Island, they 
must be upon their guard. In the event of 
attack they would be able to escape by putting 
out to sea. 

Jenny, Dolly, and Susan therefore resumed 
their places beside Captain Gould. Frank and 
James stretched themselves out between the 
benches, ready to spring up at the call of the 
boatswain. But for the moment they had 
reached the limit of their strength, and they 
fell asleep immediately. 

Fritz and John Block sat together in the 
stern and talked in low tones. 

“So here we are in harbour, Mr. Fritz,” 
said the boatswain; “I knew we should end by 
getting there. If it isn’t, properly speaking, 
a harbour, you will agree at any rate that it 
is ever so much better than anchoring among 
rocks. Our boat is safe for the night. To¬ 
morrow we will look into things.” 

“I envy you your cheerfulness, my dear 
Block,” Fritz answered. “This neighbour¬ 
hood does not inspire me with any confidence, 
and our position is anything but comfortable 
near a coast whose bearings we do not even 
know.” 

“The coast is a coast, Mr. Fritz. It has 


A BARREN SHORE 


59 


got creeks and beaches and rocks; it is made 
like any other, and I don’t suppose it will sink 
from under our feet. As for the question of 
leaving it, or of settling on it, we will decide 
that later.” 

“ Anyhow, Block, I hope we shall not be 
obliged to put to sea again before the captain 
has had a little time to rest and recover. So 
if the spot is deserted, if it has resources to 
offer, and we run no risk of falling into the 
hands of natives, we must stay here some 
time.” 

“Deserted it certainly seems to be so far,” 
the boatswain replied, “and to my thinking, 
it is better it should be.” 

“I think so, too, Block, and I think that we 
shall be able to renew our provisions by fish¬ 
ing, if we can’t by hunting.” 

“As you say, sir. Then, if the game here 
only amounts to sea-birds which one can’t live 
on, we will hunt in the forests and plains in¬ 
land and make up our fishing that way. With¬ 
out guns, of course-” 

“What brutes they were, Block, not even 
to leave us any firearms!” 

“They were perfectly right—in their own in¬ 
terests, you understand,” the boatswain re¬ 
plied. “Before we let go I could not have 
resisted the temptation to shoot at the 
head of that rascal Borupt—the treacherous 
hound!” 



60 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


“Traitors all,” Fritz added; “all of them 
who stood in with him.” 

“Well, they shall pay for their treachery 
some day!” John Block declared. 

“Did you hear anything, bos’un?” Fritz 
asked suddenly, listening intently. 

“No; that sound is only the ripples along 
the shore. There is nothing to worry about, 
so far, and although the night is as dark as 
the bottom of the hold I’ve got good eyes.” 

“Well, don’t shut them for a moment, 
Block; let us be prepared for anything.” 

“The hawser is ready to be cast off,” the 
boatswain answered. “If need be, we shall 
only have to seize the oars, and with one shove 
with the boat-hook I’ll guarantee to drive the 
boat a good twenty yards from the rocks.” 

More than once, however, during the night, 
Fritz and the boatswain were set on the alert. 
They thought they could hear a crawling 
sound upon the sandy shore. 

Deep silence reigned. The breeze had died 
away; the sea had fallen to a calm. A slight 
surf breaking at the foot of the rocks was all 
that could be heard. A few birds, a very few, 
gulls and sea-mews flying in from the sea, 
sought their crannies in the cliffs. Nothing 
disturbed the first night passed upon the shore. 

Next morning all were astir at daybreak, 
and it was with sinking hearts that they ex¬ 
amined the coast on which they had found 
refuge. 


A BARREN SHORE 


61 


Fritz had been able to see part of it the 
day before, when it was a mile or so away. 
Viewed from that point it extended ten or 
twelve miles east and west. From the promon¬ 
tory at the foot of which the boat was moored, 
only a fifth of that, at most, could be seen, 
shut in between two angles with the sea be¬ 
yond, clear and lucent on the right hand but 
still dark upon the left. The shore extended 
for a stretch of perhaps a mile, enclosed at 
each end by lofty bastions of rock, while a 
black cliff completely shut it in behind. 

This cliff must have been eight or nine hun¬ 
dred feet in height, rising sheer from the 
beach, which sloped steeply up to its base. 
Was it higher still beyond? That could only 
be ascertained by scaling the crest by means 
of the bastions, one of which, the one to the 
east, running rather farther out to sea, pre¬ 
sented an outline that was not so perpendicu¬ 
lar. Even on that side, however, the ascent 
would be an uncommonly difficult one, if in¬ 
deed it were not impracticable. 

Captain Gould and his companions were 
first conscious of a feeling of utter discour¬ 
agement as they beheld the wild desolation of 
this carpet of sand, with points of rock jut¬ 
ting out here and there. Not a tree, not a 
bush, not a trace of vegetation! Here were 
the melancholy and horror of the desert. The 
only verdure was that of scanty lichens, those 


62 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


rudimentary productions of nature, rootless, 
stalkless, leafless, flowerless, looking like 
scabby patches on the sides of the rocks, and 
of every tint from faded yellow to brilliant 
red. In some places, too, there was a kind of 
sticky mildew caused by the damp. At the 
edge of the cliff there was not a blade of grass; 
on its granite wall there was not a single one of 
those stone-crops or rock plants which need 
so very little soil. 

Was it to be deduced that soil was lacking 
on the plateau above as well ? Had the boat 
found nothing better than one of those desert 
islands undeserving of a name? 

“It certainly isn’t what you might call a 
gay place,” the boatswain murmured in 
Fritz’s ear. 

“Perhaps we should have had better luck 
if we had come ashore on the west or east.” 

“Perhaps,” Block assented; “but at any 
rate we shall not run up against any savages 
here.” 

For it was obvious that not even a savage 
could have existed on this barren shore. 

Jenny, Frank, Dolly, James, and Susan sat 
in the boat, surveying the whole coast, so dif¬ 
ferent from the verdant shores of the Prom¬ 
ised Land. Even Burning Rock, gloomy of 
aspect as it was, had had its natural products 
to offer to Jenny Montrose, the fresh water 
of its stream and the game in its woods and 


A BARREN SHORE 


63 


plains. Here was nothing but stones and sand, 
a bank of shells on the left, and long trails 
of sea-weeds left high and dry by the tide. 
Verily, a land of desolation! 

The animal kingdom was represented by a 
few sea-birds, gulls, black-divers, sea-mews, 
and swallows, which uttered deafening cries 
at finding their solitude disturbed by the pres¬ 
ence of man. Higher up, great frigate-birds, 
halcyons and albatrosses sailed on powerful 
wings. 

“Well,” said the boatswain at last, “even 
if this shore is not so good as yours in New 
Switzerland, that’s no reason for not landing 
on it.” 

“Then let ,'us land,” Fritz answered. “I 
hope we shall find somewhere to shelter at the 
foot of the cliff.” 

“Yes, let us land,” said Jenny. 

“Dear wife,” said Fritz, “I advise you to 
remain here in the boat, with Mrs. Wolston 
and Dolly, while we make our trip. There is 
no sign of danger, and you have nothing to be 
afraid of.” 

“Besides,” the boatswain added, “we most 
likely shan’t go out of sight.” 

Fritz jumped on to the sand, followed by 
the others, while Dolly called out cheerfully: 

“Try to bring us back something for din¬ 
ner, Frank! We are relying upon you.” 

“We must rely upon you rather, Dolly,” 


64 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


Frank replied. “Put out some lines at the 
foot of those rocks.’’ 

“We had better not land,” Mrs. Wolston 
agreed. “We will do our best while you are 
away.” 

“The great thing,” Fritz remarked, “is to 
keep what little biscuit we have left, in case 
we are obliged to put to sea again.” 

“Now, Mrs. Fritz,” John Block said, “get 
the stove going. We are not the kind of peo¬ 
ple to be satisfied with lichen soup or boiled 
pebbles, and we promise to bring you some¬ 
thing solid and substantial.” 

The weather was fairly fine. Through the 
clouds in the east a few sun-rays filtered. 

Fritz, Frank, James, and the boatswain 
trudged together along the edge of the shore, 
over sand still wet from the last high tide. 

Ten feet or so higher the sea-weeds lay in 
zig-zag lines. 

Some were of kinds which contain nutritive 
substances, and John Block exclaimed: 

“Why, people eat that—when they haven’t 
got anything else! In my country, in Irish 
sea-ports, a sort of jam is made of that!” 

After walking three or four hundred yards 
in this direction, Fritz and his companions 
came to the foot of the bastion to the west. 
Formed of enormous rocks with slippery sur¬ 
faces, and almost perpendicular, it plunged 
straight down into the clear and limpid water 


A BAEEEN SHOEE 


65 


which the slight surf scarcely disturbed. Its 
foundations could be seen seven or eight fath¬ 
oms below. 

To climb along this bastion was quite im¬ 
possible for it rose perpendicularly. It would 
be necessary to scale the cliff in order to find 
out if the upper plateau displayed a less arid 
surface. Moreover, if they had to abandon 
the idea of climbing this bastion it meant that 
they could only get round it by means of the 
boat. The matter of present urgency, how¬ 
ever, was to look for some cavity in the cliff 
wherein they could take shelter. 

So all went up to the top of the beach, along 
the base of the bastion. 

When they reached the corner of the cliff, 
they came upon thick layers of sea-weeds, ab¬ 
solutely dry. As the last water-marks of the 
high tide were visible more than two hundred 
yards lower down, this meant—the steep pitch 
of the shore being taken into account—that 
these plants had been thrown up so far, not 
by the sea, but by the winds from the south, 
which are very violent in these waters. 

“If we were obliged to spend the winter 
here,” Fritz remarked, “these sea-weeds 
would supply us with fuel for a long time, if 
we could not find any wood.” 

“Fuel that burns fast,” the boatswain 
added. “Before we came to the end of heaps 
like that, of course-. But we have still got 


66 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


something to boil the pot with to-day. Now 
we must find something to put in it!” 

“Let’s look about,” Frank answered. 

The cliff was formed by irregular strata. 
It was easy to recognise the crystalline nature 
of these rocks, where feldspar and gneiss were 
mixed, an enormous mass of granite, of plu- 
tonic origin and extreme hardness. 

This formation recalled in no respect to 
Fritz and Frank the walls of their own island 
from Deliverance Bay to False Hope Point, 
where limestone only was found, easily broken 
by pick or hammer. It was thus that the 
grotto of Rock Castle had been fashioned. Out 
of solid granite, any such work would have 
been impossible. 

Fortunately there was no need to make any 
such attempt. A hundred yards from the 
bastion, behind the piles of sea-wrack, they 
found a number of openings in the rock. They 
resembled the cells of a gigantic hive, and pos¬ 
sibly gave access to the inside of the rock. 

There were indeed several cavities at the 
foot of this cliff. 

While some provided only small recesses, 
others were deep and also dark, owing to the 
heaps of sea-weed in front of them. But it was 
quite likely that in the opposite part, which 
was less exposed to the winds from the sea, 
some cavern opened into which they might 
carry the stores from the boat. 


A BARREN SHORE 


67 


Trying to keep as near as possible to where 
the boat was moored, Fritz and his companions 
walked towards the eastern bastion. They 
hoped to find this more practicable than the 
other, because of its elongated outline in its 
lower portion, and thought that they might be 
able to get round it. Although it stood up 
sheer in its upper portion, it sloped towards 
the middle and ended in a point by the sea. 

Their anticipations were not disappointed. 
In the corner formed by the bastion was a 
cave quite easy of access. Sheltered from the 
easterly, northerly, and southerly winds, its 
position exposed it only to the winds from the 
west, less frequent in these regions. 

The four men went inside this cave, which 
was light enough for them to see all over it. 
It was some twelve feet high, twenty feet wide, 
and fifty or sixty feet deep, and contained sev¬ 
eral unequal recesses forming, as it were, so 
many rooms set round a common hall. It had 
a carpet of fine sand, free from any trace of 
damp. Entrance to it was through a mouth 
which could be easily closed. 

“As I am a boatswain,” John Block de¬ 
clared, “we couldn’t have found anything 
better!” 

“I agree,” Fritz replied. “But what wor¬ 
ries me is that this beach is absolute desert, 
and I am afraid the upper plateau may be so 
too.” 


68 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


“Let us begin by taking possession of the 
cave, and we will attend to the rest presently. ” 

‘ 4 Oh! ’ ’ said Frank. ‘ ‘ That is not much like 
our house at Rock Castle, and I don’t even 
see a stream of fresh water to take the place 
of our Jackal River!” 

“Patience! Patience!” the boatswain an¬ 
swered. “We shall find some spring all right 
by and by among the rocks, or else a stream 
coming down from the top of the cliff.” 

“Anyhow,” Fritz declared, “we must not 
think of settling on this coast. If we do not 
succeed in getting round the base of those 
bastions on foot we must take the boat and 
reconnoitre beyond them. If it is a small 
island we have come ashore upon, we will only 
stay long enough to set Captain Gould up 
again. A fortnight will be enough, I imagine.” 

“Well, we have the house, at all events,” 
John Block remarked. “As for the garden, 
who is to say that it isn’t quite close by—on the 
other side of this point, perhaps?” 

They left the cave and walked down across 
the beach, so as to get round the bastion. 

From the cave to the first rocks washed by 
the sea at the half-ebb was about two hundred 
yards. On this side there were none of the 
heaps of sea-weeds found on the left-hand side 
of the beach. This promontory was formed 
of heavy masses of rocks which seemed to have 
been broken off from the top of the cliff. At 


A BARREN SHORE 


69 


the cave it would have been impossible to cross 
it, but nearer the sea it was low enough to get 
across. 

The boatswain’s attention was soon caught 
by a sound of running water. 

A hundred feet from the cave, a stream 
murmured among the rocks, escaping in little 
liquid threads. 

The stones were scattered here, which en¬ 
abled them to reach the bed of a little stream 
fed by a cascade that came leaping down to 
lose itself in the sea. 

“There it is! There it is! Good fresh 
water!” John Block exclaimed, after a 
draught taken up in his hands. 

“Fresh and sweet!” Prank declared when 
he had moistened his lips with it. 

“And why shouldn’t there be vegetation on 
the top of the cliff,” John Block enquired, 
“although that is only a stream?” 

“A stream now,” Fritz said, “and a stream 
which may even dry up during the very hot 
weather, but no doubt a torrent in the rainy 
season.” 

“Well, if it will only flow for a few days 
longer,” the boatswain remarked philosophi¬ 
cally, “we won’t ask anything more of it.” 

Fritz and his companions now had a cave in 
which to establish their quarters, and a stream 
which would enable them to refill the boat’s 
casks with fresh water. The chief remaining 


70 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


question was whether they could provide them¬ 
selves with food. 

Things did not look too promising. After 
crossing the little river the explorers had a 
fresh and deep disappointment. 

Beyond the promontory a creek was cut 
into the coast, in width about half a mile, 
fringed with a rim of sand, and enclosed be¬ 
hind by the cliff. At the far end rose a per¬ 
pendicular bluff, whose foot was washed by 
the sea. 

This shore presented the same arid appear¬ 
ance as the other. Here, too, the vegetable 
growths were confined to patches of lichen and 
layers of sea-weeds thrown up by the tide. 
Was it, then, on a mere islet, a rocky, lonely, 
uninhabitable island in the Pacific Ocean, that 
the boat had come ashore? There seemed 
every reason to fear so. 

It appeared useless to carry the exploration 
as far as the bluff which enclosed the creek. 
They were about to go back to the boat when 
James stretched out his hand towards the 
shore and said: 

4 ‘What is that I see down there on the sand? 
Look—those moving specks. They look like 
rats.” 

From the distance it did, indeed, look as if a 
number of rats were on march together to¬ 
wards the sea. 

4 4 Eats ? ’ ’ said Frank enquiringly. 4 4 The rat 
is game, when he belongs to the ondatra genus. 


A BARREN SHORE 


71 


Do you remember the hundreds we killed, 
Fritz, when we made that trip after the boa- 
constrictor ¥” 

“I should think I do, Frank,” Fritz an¬ 
swered ; 44 and I remember, too, that we did not 
make much of a feast off their flesh, which 
reeked too much of the marsh.” 

44 Right!” said the boatswain. 44 Properly 
cooked, one can eat those beggars. But there’s 
no occasion to argue about it. Those black 
specks over there aren’t rats.” 

44 What do you think they are, Block ?” Fritz 
asked. 

4 4 Turtles.” 

44 I hope you are right.” 

The boatswain’s good eyesight might have 
been trusted. There actually was a crowd of 
turtles crawling over the sand. 

So while Fritz and James remained on 
watch on the promontory, John Block and 
Frank slid down the other side of the rocks, in 
order to cut off the band of chelones. 

These tortoises were small, measuring only 
twelve or fifteen inches, and long in the tail. 
They belonged to a species whose principal 
food consists of insects. There were fifty of 
them, on march, not towards the sea, but to¬ 
wards the mouth of the stream, where a quan¬ 
tity of sticky laminariae, left by the ebb tide, 
were soaking. 

On this side the ground was studded with 
little swellings, like bubbles in the sand, the 


72 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


meaning of which Frank recognised at once. 

“There are turtles’ eggs under those!” he 
exclaimed. 

“Well, dig up the eggs, Mr. Frank,” John 
Block replied. “Ill belay the fowls! That’s 
certainly ever so much better than my boiled 
pebbles, and if little Miss Dolly isn’t satis¬ 
fied-” 

“The eggs will be warmly welcomed, Block, 
you may be sure,” Frank declared. 

“And the turtles, too; they are excellent 
beasts—excellent for making soup, I mean!” 

A moment later the boatswain and Frank 
had turned a score of them over on to their 
backs. They were quite helpless in that posi¬ 
tion. Laden with half a dozen of them, and 
twice as many eggs, they went back towards 
the boat. 

Captain Gould listened eagerly to John 
Block’s story. Since he had been spared the 
shaking of the boat his wound had been pain¬ 
ing him less, the fever was beginning to go 
down, and a week’s rest would certainly put 
him on his feet again. Wounds in the head, 
unless they are exceptionally serious, generally 
heal easily and soon. The bullet had only 
grazed the surface of the skull, after tearing 
away part of the cheek; but it had been within 
an ace of going through the temple. A speedy 
improvement could now be looked for in the 
condition of the wounded man, thanks to the 
rest and care which he could now obtain. 


A BARREN SHORE 


73 


It was with much satisfaction Captain 
Gould learned that turtles abounded in this 
bay, which was named Turtle Bay in their 
honour. It meant the guarantee of a whole¬ 
some and plentiful food, even for a consider¬ 
able time. It might even be possible to pre¬ 
serve some of it in salt and load the boat with 
it when the time came to put to sea again. 

For of course they would have later to seek a 
more hospitable shore to the northward, if the 
table-land at the top of the cliff proved to be as 
unfertile as that of Turtle Bay, if it had no 
woods or grass lands, if, in short, the land on 
which the passengers of the Flag had come 
ashore proved to be nothing more than a mere 
heap of rocks. 

“Well, Dolly, and you, too, Jenny,’’ said 
Frank when he got back, “are you satisfied? 
How has the fishing gone while we have been 
away?” 

“Pretty well,” Jenny answered, pointing to 
several fish lying on the poop. 

“And we’ve got something better than that 
to offer you,” added Dolly, merrily. 

“What’s that, then?” Fritz asked. 

“Mussels,” the girl answered. “There are 
heaps of them at the foot of the promontory. 
Look at those boiling in the saucepan now!” 

‘ ‘ Congratulations! ’ ’ said Frank. 4 ‘ And you 
owe us congratulations, too, Jenny, for we have 
not come back empty-handed. Here are some 
eggs-” 


74 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 

“Hens’ eggs?” Bob exclaimed eagerly. 

“No; turtles’,” Frank replied. 

“Turtles’ eggs?” Jenny repeated. “Did 
you find turtles?” 

“A regiment of them,” the boatswain told 
her; “and there are lots more; there are 
enough to last us all the time we shall be at 
anchor in the bay.” 

“Before we leave this bay,” Captain Gould 
put in, “I think we ought to reconnoitre along 
the coast, or climb to the top of the cliff.” 

“We’ll try it, captain,” John Block an¬ 
swered. ‘ ‘ But don’t let’s be in a greater hurry 
than we need be, since it is possible to exist 
here without touching what we have left of the 
biscuit.” 

“That’s what I think, Block.” 

“What we want, captain,” Frank went on, 
“is that you should have a rest to allow your 
wound to heal, and you to get back your 
strength. A week or two is nothing to spend 
here. When you are on your feet again you 
will have a look at things for yourself, and you 
will decide what is best to be done.” 

During the morning they proceeded to un¬ 
load the boat of all that it contained, the bag 
of biscuit, the casks, the fuel, the utensils, and 
the clothing, and everything was carried 
within the cave. The little stove was set up 
in the corner of the bastion, and was first em¬ 
ployed in making the turtle soup. 


A BARREN SHORE 


75 


As for Captain Gould, he was carried to the 
cave by Fritz and the boatswain; a comfort¬ 
able bed was waiting ready for him, made of 
dry sea-weed by Jenny and Dolly, and there he 
was able to enjoy several hours’ sleep. 


CHAPTER VI 

TIME OF TRIAL 

I T would have been difficult to find better 
quarters than those provided by this cave. 
The various recesses hollowed out inside it 
made capital separate rooms. 

It was a trifling disadvantage, that these re¬ 
cesses, which were of varying depth, were 
rather dark during the day, and that the cave 
itself was never very light. For, except in bad 
weather, it would only be occupied at night. 
At earliest dawn Captain Gould would be car¬ 
ried outside, to drink in the salt, invigorating 
air and bask in the sunshine. 

Inside the cave Jenny arranged to occupy 
one of the recesses with her husband. A larger 
one, sufficient to accommodate all three of 
them, was taken possession of by James Wol- 
ston and his wife and little Bob. Frank con¬ 
tented himself with a corner in the large hall, 
where he shared the company of the skipper 
and the boatswain. 

The remainder of the day was given up en¬ 
tirely to rest. The boat’s passengers had to 

76 


TIME OF TRIAL 


77 ’ 

recuperate after the many emotions of this 
last week and the awful trial they had endured 
so bravely. 

Wisdom dictated their resolution to spend a 
fortnight in this bay, where material existence 
seemed to be secured for some time to come. 
Even if the Captain’s condition had not re¬ 
quired that they should do so, John Block 
would not have advised an immediate depar¬ 
ture. 

In the evening, after a second meal of turtle 
soup, and turtle flesh and eggs, Frank led them 
in prayer, and all went into the cave. Captain 
Gould, thanks to the ministrations of Jenny 
and Dolly, was no longer shaking with fever. 
His wound now closing, gave him less pain. 
He was progressing rapidly towards complete 
recovery. 

To keep a watch during the night was need¬ 
less. There was nothing to fear on this lonely 
shore, neither savages nor wild beasts. It was 
unlikely that these gloomy and depressing 
wastes had ever been visited by man before. 
The stillness was only broken by the harsh and 
melancholy cry of the sea-birds as they came 
home to their crannies in the cliff. The breeze 
died gradually away, and not a breath of air 
stirred till the rising of the sun. 

The men were out at daybreak. First of all 
John Block went down the beach along the 
promontory and made for the boat. It was 


78 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


still floating but would soon be left high and 
dry by the ebb tide. Being fastened by 
hawsers on both sides, it had not bumped 
against the rocks, even when the tide was at 
its highest, and as long as the wind continued 
to blow from the east it could come to no harm. 
In the event of the wind veering to the south 
they would see if it was necessary to look 
for other moorings. Meantime the weather 
seemed to be definitely set fair, and this was 
the fine season. 

When he got back the boatswain sought out 
Fritz and spoke to him about this. 

“It’s worth giving a little thought to,” he 
said. “Our boat comes before everything 
else. A snug cave is fine. But one doesn’t go 
to sea in a cave, and when the time comes for 
us to leave—if it ever does come—it’s impor¬ 
tant that we shouldn’t be prevented from 
doing so.” 

“Of course, Block,” Fritz answered. “We 
will take every possible care to prevent the boat 
coming to harm. Do you think perhaps there 
is a better mooring for her on the other side of 
the promontory ?” 

“We’ll see, sir, and since everything is all 
right on this side I will go round to the other 
and hunt turtles. Will you come with me ?” 

“No, Block. Go alone. I am going back to 
the captain. This last good night’s rest must 
have reduced the fever. When he wakes he 


TIME OF TRIAL 79 

will want to discuss the situation. I must be 
there to tell him all that has happened.” 

“Quite right, Mr. Fritz; and mind you tell 
him that there is nothing to be uneasy about at 
present.” 

The boatswain went to the far end of the 
promontory, and sprang from rock to rock 
across the creek towards the place where he 
and Frank had come upon the turtles the day 
before. 

Fritz returned to the cave, up to which 
Frank and James were busy bringing armfuls 
of sea-weed. Mrs. Wolston was dressing little 
Bob. Jenny and Dolly were still with the cap¬ 
tain. In the corner of the promontory the fire 
crackled under the stove, and the kettle began 
to boil, white steam escaping from its spout. 

When Fritz had finished his conversation 
with the captain, he and Jenny went down to 
the beach. They walked a little way and then 
turned back under the lofty cliff which en¬ 
closed them like a prison wall. 

Fritz spoke in tones of deep emotion. 

“Dear wife, I must talk to you of what is in 
my heart. I can see you with me in the canoe 
after I had found you upon Burning Rock. 
And then our meeting with the pinnace, and 
our return to Rock Castle with all the others! 
Two happy years slipped by with nothing to 
mar their quiet happiness! You were the joy 
and charm of our circle. We were so accus- 


80 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


tomed to life under those conditions that it 
seemed as if there were no world outside our 
island. And if it had not been for the thought 
of your father, beloved, perhaps we should not 
have sailed on the Unicorn —perhaps we 
should never have left New Switzerland. ” 

“ Why do you talk now of this, Fritz, dear ?” 
said Jenny, greatly moved. 

“I want to tell you how heavy my heart has 
been since ill fortune has set in upon us. Yes! 
I am full of remorse at having brought you to 
share it with me!” 

“You must not fear ill fortune,” Jenny an¬ 
swered. “A man of your courage, your 
energy, will not give way to despair, Fritz.” 

“Let me finish, Jenny! One day the Uni¬ 
corn arrived, over there, off New Switzerland. 
She went away again, and took us to Europe. 
From that moment misfortune has never 
ceased to strike you. Colonel Montrose died 

before he could see his child-” 

“Poor father!” said Jenny, her eyes wet. 
“Yes, that happiness was withheld from him— 
of clasping me in his arms, and rewarding my 
rescuer by placing my hand in his. But God 
willed otherwise, and we must submit.” 

“Well, Jenny dear,” Fritz went on, “at all 
events there you were, back in England; you 
had seen your own land again; you might have 
remained there with your own people and 
found quiet happiness.” 



TIME OF TRIAL 


81 


4 4 Happiness! Without you, Fritz ? ’’ 

4 4 And then, Jenny, you would not have in¬ 
curred fresh dangers, after all those which you 
had escaped so miraculously. Yet you con¬ 
sented to follow me back to our island again / 9 

44 Do you forget that I am your wife, Fritz? 
Could I have hesitated to leave Europe, to re¬ 
join all those whom I love, your family, which 
is mine henceforward?” 

4 4 But Jenny, Jenny, that does not make it 
less true that I drew you into fresh danger— 
and danger that I cannot think of without 
panic. Our present situation is desperate. 
Oh! those mutineers who caused it all, who 
cast us adrift! And you, shipwrecked once in 
the Dorcas, now cast again upon an unknown 
island even less habitable than Burning 
Rock!” 

4 4 But I am not alone; I have you, and Frank, 
and our friends, brave and determined men. 
Fritz, I shrink from no dangers present or to 
come! I know that you will do everything pos¬ 
sible for our safety.” 

44 Everything, my darling,” Fritz exclaimed, 
4 4 but though the thought that you are there 
must double my courage, yet it also grieves me 
so much that I want to throw myself at your 
knees and beg for your forgiveness! It is my 
fault that-” 

44 Fritz,” she answered, clinging to him, 44 no 
one could possibly have foreseen the things 


82 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


which have happened—the mutiny, and our 
being cast adrift at sea. Far better forget the 
ill fortune and contemplate only the good! We 
might have been murdered by the crew of the 
Flag, or doomed to the tortures of hunger and 
thirst in the boat. We might have perished in 
some storm. But instead we have reached a 
land which is not quite without resources, 
which at least gives us shelter. If we do not 
know what land it is we must try to find 
out, and we will leave it if we find that we 
must.” 

“To go—whither, my poor Jenny?” 

“Somewhere else, as our dear boatswain 
would say; to go wherever God wills that we 
shall!” 

“My dear wife!” Fritz exclaimed. “You 
have given me back my courage! Yes! We 
will fight on; we will not give way to despair. 
We will think of the precious lives that are con¬ 
fided to our care. We will save them! We 
will save them—with the help of God!” 

“On whom we never call in vain!” said 
Frank, who had overheard the last words 
spoken by his brother. “Let us keep our trust 
in Him, and He will not forsake us!” 

Under Jenny’s encouragement Fritz recov¬ 
ered all his energy. His companions were as 
ready as he was to spend themselves in super¬ 
human efforts. 

About ten o’clock, as the weather was fine, 


TIME OF TRIAL 


83 


Captain Gould was able to come and stretch 
himself in the sun at the far end of the prom¬ 
ontory. The boatswain returned from his 
trip round the creek as far as the foot of the 
bluff to the east. Beyond that it was impos¬ 
sible to go. Even at low tide it would have 
been useless to attempt to get round the foot 
of this huge rock, about which the surf beat 
violently. 

John Block had been joined by James in the 
creek, and both brought back turtles and eggs. 
These chelones swarmed upon the shore. In 
anticipation of an early departure it would be 
possible to lay in a large stock of their flesh, 
which would secure a supply of food for the 
passengers. 

After luncheon the men talked while Jenny, 
Polly, and Susan busied themselves washing 
the spare linen in the fresh water of the stream. 
It would dry quickly in the sun, for the day was 
hot. Afterwards, all the clothes were to be 
mended, so that everybody might be ready to 
go aboard the boat again directly it should be 
decided to make a start. 

They had important questions to answer. 
What was the geographical position of this 
land? Was it possible to ascertain it without 
instruments, within a few degrees, taking the 
position of the sun at noon as a basis for calcu¬ 
lation ? Such an observation could not be ab¬ 
solutely accurate. But to-day it seemed to 


84 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


confirm the opinion, already advanced by Cap¬ 
tain Gould, that this land must lie between the 
fortieth and thirtieth parallels. What merid¬ 
ian crossed it from north to south there were 
no means of ascertaining, although the Flag 
must have been somewhere in the western 
waters of the Pacific Ocean. 

Then the idea of reaching the upper plateau 
came up again. Pending the recovery of the 
captain, was it not necessary to find out 
whether the boat had come ashore on a conti¬ 
nent, an island, or a mere islet? As the cliff 
was seven or eight hundred feet high it was 
quite possible that some other land might be 
visible a few miles out at sea. So Fritz and 
Frank and the boatswain made up their minds 
to climb to the top of the cliff. 

Several days passed without bringing any 
change in the situation. Every one realised 
the necessity of escaping from it somehow or 
other, and all were seriously afraid that it 
might become worse. The weather remained 
fine. The heat was great, but there was no 
thunder. 

On several occasions John Block and Fritz 
and Frank had walked round the bay from the 
western bastion as far as the bluff. In vain 
had they looked for a gorge or less precipitous 
slope by which they might gain the plateau 
above. The wall rose sheer. 

Meantime the captain approached complete 


TIME OF TRIAL 


85 


recovery. His wound was healed, though it 
was still bandaged. The attacks of fever had 
become more and more rare, and had now 
ceased. His strength was coming back slowly, 
but he could now walk unsupported. He was 
always talking to Fritz and the boatswain of 
the chances of another voyage in the boat 
northward. On the morning of the 25th, he 
was able to go as far as the foot of the bluff, 
and agreed that it was impossible to walk 
round the base of it. 

Fritz, who had accompanied him, with 
Frank and John Block, offered to dive into the 
sea and so get to the shore beyond. But 
although he was an excellent swimmer, there 
was such a current running at the foot of the 
bluff that the captain was obliged to order the 
young man not to put this dangerous idea into 
execution. Once borne away by the current, 
who could say if Fritz could have got back to 
the shore ? 

“No,” said Captain Gould, “it would be 
rash, and there is no good in running into 
danger. We will go in the boat to reconnoitre 
that part of the coast, and if we go a few cables’ 
length out, we shall be able to get a more ex¬ 
tended view of it. Unfortunately I am very 
much afraid that it will be found to be as 
barren everywhere as it is here.” 

“You mean that we are on some islet?” 
Frank remarked. 


86 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


“There is reason to suppose so,” the captain 
replied. 

“Very well,” said Fritz, “but does it follow 
that this islet is an isolated point? Why 
should it not be part of some group of islands 
lying to the north, east, or west?” 

“What group, my dear Fritz?” the captain 
retorted. “If, as everything goes to show, we 
are in Australian or New Zealand waters here, 
there is no group of islands in this part of the 
Pacific.” 

“Because the charts don’t show any, does it 
follow that there aren’t any?” Fritz remarked. 
“The position of New Switzerland was not 
known and yet-” 

“Quite true,” Harry Gould replied; “that 
was because it lies outside the track of 
shipping. Very seldom, practically never, do 
ships cross that bit of the Indian Ocean where 
it is situated, whereas to the south of Australia 
the seas are very busy, and no island, or group 
of any size, could possibly have escaped the 
notice of navigators.” 

“There is still the possibility that we are 
somewhere near Australia,” Frank went on. 

“A distinct possibility,” the captain an¬ 
swered, “and I should not be surprised if we 
are at its south-west extremity, somewhere 
near Cape Leeuwin. In that case we should 
have to fear the ferocious Australian natives.” 

“And so,” the boatswain remarked, “it is 



TIME OF TRIAL 87 

better to be on an islet, where at any rate one is 
sure not to run up against cannibals.’’ 

“And that is what we should probably know 
if we could get to the top of the cliff,” Frank 
added. 

“Yes,” said Fritz; “but there isn’t a single 
place where we can do it.” 

“Not even by climbing up the promontory ?’’ 
Captain Gould asked. 

“It is practicable, although very difficult, as 
far as half way,” Fritz answered, “but the 
upper walls are absolutely perpendicular. We 
should have to use ladders, and even then suc¬ 
cess isn’t certain. If there were some chimney 
which we could get up with ropes, it might per¬ 
haps be possible to reach the top, but there isn’t 
one anywhere. ” 

“Then we will take the boat and reconnoitre 
the coast,” said Captain Gould. 

“When you are completely recovered, cap¬ 
tain, and not before,” replied Fritz firmly. 
“It will be several days yet before-” 

“I am getting better, Fritz,” the captain de¬ 
clared ; “how could it be otherwise, with all the 
attention I have ? Mrs. Wolston and your wife 
and Dolly would have cured me merely by 
looking at me. We will put to sea in forty- 
eight hours at latest.” 

“Westward or eastward?” Fritz asked. 

“According to the wind,” the captain 
replied. 



88 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


“And I have an idea that this trip will be a 
lucky one/’ the boatswain put in. 

Fritz, Frank, and John Block had already 
done all but the impossible in their attempts to 
scale the promontory. They had got about two 
hundred feet up, although the gradient was 
very steep, by slipping from one rock to the 
next in the very middle of a torrent of land¬ 
slides, with the agility of chamois or ibex; but 
a third of the way up they had come to a stop: 
It had been a highly dangerous attempt, and 
the boatswain had come within an ace of break¬ 
ing some of his bones. 

But from that point all their attempts to 
continue the ascent were in vain. The prom¬ 
ontory ended here in a vertical section with a 
smooth surface. There was not a foothold 
anywhere, not the tiniest projection on which 
the boat’s ropes might have been caught. And 
they were still six or seven hundred feet from 
the top of the cliff. 

When they returned to the cave Captain 
Gould explained the decision which had been 
reached. Two days hence, on the 27th of Oc¬ 
tober, the boat was to leave her moorings to go 
along the coast. Had a trip of several days’ 
duration been involved, everybody would have 
gone in the boat. But as only a general recon¬ 
naissance was contemplated, he thought it 
would be better that only he should go with 
Fritz and the boatswain. They three would be 


TIME OF TRIAL 


89 


enough to handle the boat, and they would not 
go farther away to the north than they must. 
If they found that the coast-line bounded noth¬ 
ing more than an islet they could make the cir¬ 
cuit of it and be back within twenty-four 
hours. 

Short as their absence might be, the idea of 
it excited great uneasiness. The rest of the 
party would not be able to see their compan¬ 
ions go without much anxiety. How could 
they tell what might happen? Suppose they 
were attacked by savages—suppose they could 
not get back soon—suppose they did not come 
back at all ? 

Jenny used these arguments with character¬ 
istic energy. She insisted that the many 
anxieties they endured already should not be 
added to by others arising from an absence 
which might be prolonged. Fritz sympathised 
with her arguments, Captain Gould accepted 
them, and ultimately it was agreed that they 
should all take part in the projected ex¬ 
ploration. 

As soon as this decision had been arrived at, 
to the general satisfaction, John Block got 
busy putting the boat in order. Not that it 
required any repairs, for it had come to little 
harm since it had been cast adrift, but it was 
well to overhaul it and fit it up in anticipation 
of a possible extension of the voyage to some 
adjoining land. So the boatswain worked his 


90 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


hardest to make it more comfortable, enclosing 
the fore-deck so that the women might have 
shelter from squalls and breaking waves. 

There was nothing more to do but wait, and 
meanwhile lay in provisions for a voyage 
which might perhaps be longer than was in¬ 
tended. Besides, if it were necessary to leave 
Turtle Bay finally, ordinary prudence sug¬ 
gested that they should do so without delay, 
that they should take advantage of the fine 
season just beginning in these southern 
regions. 

They could not but quail before the idea of a 
winter here. True, the cave offered them a 
sure shelter against the storms from the south, 
which are appalling in the Pacific. The cold, 
too, could no doubt be faced, for there would be 
no lack of fuel, thanks to the enormous collec¬ 
tion of sea-weed at the foot of the cliff. 

But suppose the turtles failed ? Would they 
be reduced to fish as sole diet! And the boat— 
where could they put that in safety, out of 
reach of the waves which must break right up 
to the back of the beach in the winter ? Would 
they be able to haul it up above the highest 
tide-marks ? Harry Gould and Fritz and the 
rest had only their own arms to rely on, not a 
tool, not a lever, not a lifting-jack, and the boat 
was heavy enough to resist their united efforts. 

At this time of year there was happily noth¬ 
ing but passing storms to fear. The fortnight 


TIME OF TEIAL 


91 


that they had spent ashore had enabled them 
all to pick np their moral and physical strength 
as well as to recover confidence. 

Their preparations were completed in the 
morning of the 26th. Fritz observed with some 
uneasiness that clouds were beginning to 
gather in the south. They were still a long 
way off, but were assuming a lurid hue. The 
breeze was almost imperceptible, yet the heavy 
mass of cloud was rising in a solid body. If 
this thunderstorm burst it would burst full 
upon Turtle Bay. 

Hitherto the rocks at the far end of the 
promontory had protected the boat from the 
easterly winds. From the other side, too, the 
westerly winds could not have touched it, and 
firmly held as it was by hawsers, it might have 
escaped too severe a buffeting. But if a furious 
sea swept in from the open main, it would be 
unprotected and might be smashed to pieces. 

It was useless to think of trying to find some 
other mooring on the other side of the bluff or 
of the bastion, for, even in calm weather, the 
sea broke there with violence. 

“What’s to be done?” Fritz asked the boat¬ 
swain, and the boatswain had no answer. 

One hope remained—that the storm might 
blow itself out before it fell upon the coast. 
But as they listened they could hear a distant 
rumbling, although the wind was very faint. 
The sea was roaring out there in the distance, 


92 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


and already intermittent flaws were sweeping 
over its surface, giving it a livid tint. 

Captain Gould gazed at the horizon. 

“We are in for a bad spell,’’ Fritz said to 
him. 

“I am afraid we are,” the captain acknowl¬ 
edged ; “as bad a spell as our worst fears could 
have imagined!” 

“Captain,” the boatswain broke in, “this 
isn’t a time to sit and twiddle one’s thumbs. 
We’ve got to use a little elbow grease, as sailor- 
men say.” 

“Let us try to pull the boat up to the top of 
the beach,” said Fritz, calling James and his 
brother. 

“We will try,” Captain Gould replied. 
“The tide is coming up and will help us. 
Meanwhile let us begin by lightening the boat 
as much as we can.” 

All buckled to. The sails were laid upon the 
sand, the mast unstepped, the rudder un¬ 
shipped, and the seats and spars were taken 
out and carried within the cave. 

By the time the tide was slack the boat had 
been hauled about twenty yards higher up. 
But that was not enough; she would have to be 
pulled up twice as far again to be out of reach 
of the waves. 

Having no other tools, the boatswain pushed 
planks under the keel, and all combined to pull 
and push. But their efforts were useless: the 


TIME OF TRIAL 


93 


heavy boat was fixed in the sand and did not 
gain an inch beyond the last high-water mark. 

When evening came the wind threatened a 
hurricane. From the piled clouds in the zenith 
flash after flash of lightning broke, followed by 
terrific peals of thunder, which the cliff re¬ 
echoed in appalling reverberations. 

Although the boat had been left high and dry 
by the ebb tide, the waves, momentarily be¬ 
coming stronger, would soon lift it up from the 
stern. 

And now the rain fell in big drops, so heavily 
charged with electricity that they seemed to 
explode as they struck the sand on the shore. 

4 ‘You can’t stay outside any longer, Jenny, 
dear,” said Fritz. “Do go back into the cave, 
I beg you! You, too, Dolly, and you too, Mrs. 
Wolston.” 

Jenny did not want to leave her husband. 
But Captain Gould spoke authoritatively. 

“Go inside, Mrs. Fritz,” he said. 

“You too, captain,” she replied; “you must 
not expose yourself to a wetting yet.” 

“I have nothing to fear now,” Harry Gould 
answered. 

“Jenny, 1 tell you again, go back, there’s no 
time to lose!” Fritz exclaimed. 

And Jenny, Dolly, and Susan took refuge in 
the cave just as the rain, in which hail was 
mingled, began to rattle down like grapeshot. 

Captain Gould and the boatswain, Fritz, 


94 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


Frank, and James remained near the boat, 
though it was with the utmost difficulty that 
they stood up against the squalls which swept 
the shore. The waves were breaking in the bay 
already and throwing their spray right over it. 

The danger was acute. Would it be possible 
to sustain the boat against the shocks which 
were rolling it from one side to the other ? If 
it were broken up, how would Captain Gould 
and his companions be able to get away from 
this coast before the winter? 

All five stood by, and when the sea came 
farther up and lifted the boat, they hung on to 
its sides trying to steady it. 

Soon the storm was at its height. From 
twenty places at once tremendous flashes of 
lightning burst. When they struck the bas¬ 
tions they tore off fragments which could be 
heard crashing upon the heaps of sea-weed. 

An enormous wave, twenty-five or thirty 
feet high at least, was lifted up by the hurri¬ 
cane and dashed upon the shore like a huge 
waterspout. 

Caught in its grip Captain Gould and his 
companions were swept right up to the heaps 
of sea-weed, and it was only by a miracle that 
the enormous wave did not carry them back 
with it as it drew again to the sea! 

The disaster feared so much had befallen 
them! 

The boat, torn from its bed, swept up to the 


TIME OF TRIAL 


95 


top of the beach and then carried down again 
to the rocks at the end of the promontory, was 
smashed, and its fragments, after floating for 
a moment in the creaming foam of the back¬ 
water, disappeared from view round the bend 
of the bluff! 


CHAPTER VII 

THE COMING OF THE ALBATROSS 

T HE situation seemed worse than ever. 
While they were in the boat, exposed to 
all the perils of the sea, Captain Gould 
and his passengers at least had a chance of 
being picked up by some ship, or of reaching 
land. They had not fallen in with a ship. And 
although they had reached land, it was practi¬ 
cally uninhabitable, yet it seemed they must 
give up all hope of ever leaving it. 

“Still,” said John Block to Fritz, “if we 
had run into a storm like that out at sea, our 
boat would have gone to the bottom and taken 
us with it!” 

Fritz made no reply. He hurried through a 
deluge of rain and hail to take shelter with 
Jenny and Dolly and Susan, who were in¬ 
tensely anxious. Owing to its position in the 
corner of the promontory, the inside of the 
cave had not been flooded. 

Towards midnight, when the rain had 
stopped, the boatswain piled a heap of sea¬ 
weed near the mouth of the cave. A bright 
fire soon blazed, drying their drenched clothes. 


THE COMING OF THE ALBATROSS 97 


Until the fury of the storm abated the whole 
sky was incessantly ablaze. The pealing thun¬ 
der diminished as the clouds were driven 
rapidly towards the north. But as long as 
distant lightning continued to light up the 
bay, the wind blew with great force, lifting bil¬ 
lows which plunged and broke wildly on the 
shore. 

At dawn the men came out of the cave. Tat¬ 
tered clouds were passing over the cliff. Some, 
hanging lower, skimmed the surface. During 
the night the lightning had struck it in several 
places. Huge fragments of rock lay at its base. 
But there was no sign of a new cleft or crevice 
into which it might be possible to squeeze, and 
so to reach the plateau above. 

Captain Gould, Fritz, and John Block took 
stock of what was left of the boat. It com¬ 
prised the mast, the foresail and the jib, the 
rigging, the hawsers, the rudder, the oars, the 
anchor and its cable, the wooden seats, and the 
casks of fresh water. Some use could no doubt 
be made of most of these things, damaged as 
they were. 

“Fortune has tried us cruelly!” Fritz said. 
“If only we had not these poor women with us 
—three women and a child! What fate awaits 
them here on this shore, which we cannot even 
leave now!” 

Even Frank, with all his faith, kept silence 
this time. What could he say? 


98 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


But John Block was wondering whether the 
storm had not brought yet another disaster 
upon the shipwrecked company, for so they 
might well be described. Was there not good 
reason to fear that the turtles might have been 
destroyed by the breakers, and their eggs 
smashed as the sand was washed away? It 
would be an irreparable loss if this food supply 
failed. 

The boatswain made a sign to Frank to come 
to him, and said a few words in an undertone. 
Then both crossed the promontory and went 
down to the creek, intending to go over it as far 
as the bluff. 

While Captain Gould, Fritz, and James 
went towards the western bastion, Jenny and 
Dolly and Susan resumed their usual occupa¬ 
tions—what might be called their household 
duties. Little Bob played on the sand in 
sublime indifference, waiting for his mother to 
prepare some soaked biscuit for him. Susan 
was overcome by grief and anxiety as she 
thought of the distress and want which her 
child might not have the strength to endure. 

After putting everything in order inside the 
cave, Jenny and Dolly came out and joined 
Mrs. Wolston. Then very sadly they talked of 
their present situation, which had been so 
sorely aggravated since the day before. Dolly 
and Susan were more overcome than the 
courageous Jenny. 


THE COMING OF THE ALBATHOSS 99 


“What will become of us?” Susan asked. 

“Don’t let us lose heart,” Jenny answered, 
“and above all don’t let us discourage our 
men.” 

“But we can never get away now,” Dolly 
said. “And when the rainy season comes-” 

“I tell you, Dolly, as I told Susan,” Jenny 
answered, “that no good is done by giving up 
courage.” 

“How can I keep any hope at all?” Mrs. 
Wolston exclaimed. 

“You must! It’s your duty to! ” J enny said. 
“Think of your husband; you will increase his 
misery a thousandfold if you let him see you 
cry.” 

“You are strong, Jenny,” Dolly said; “you 
have fought misfortune before. But we-” 

“ You ? ” J enny replied. ‘ ‘ Do you forget that 
Captain Gould and Fritz and Frank and 
James and John Block will do everything that 
is possible to save us all ?” 

“What can they do?” Susan demanded. 

“I don’t know, Susan, but they will succeed 
provided we don’t hamper them by giving way 
ourselves to despair!” 

i 6 My child! My child! ’ ’ murmured the poor 
woman, choked by sobs. 

Seeing his mother crying, Bob stood in won¬ 
der, with his eyes wide open. 

J enny drew him to her and took him on her 
knees. 



100 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


“Mummy was anxious, darling! She called 
you, and you didn’t answer, and then—you 
were playing on the sand, weren’t you?” 

“Yes,” said Bob; “with the boat that Block 
made for me. But I wanted him to make a 
little white sail for it, so that it could sail. 
There are holes full of water in the sand where 
I can put it. Aunty Dolly promised to make 
me a sail.” 

“Yes, Bob dear; you shall have it to-day,” 
Dolly promised. 

“Two sails,” the child answered; “two sails 
like the boat that brought us here. ” 

“Of course,” Jenny answered. “Aunty 
Dolly will make you a lovely sail, and I will 
make you one, too.” 

“Thank you, thank you, Jenny,” Bob an¬ 
swered, clapping his hands. “But where is 
our big boat ? I can’t see it anywhere! ’’ 

“It has gone away—fishing,” Jenny an¬ 
swered. “It will come back soon, with lots of 
beautiful fish! Besides, you have got your 
own; the one that good John Block made for 
you.” 

“ Yes; but I am going to tell him to make me 
another, one in which I can sail—with papa 
and mama, and aunty Dolly and Jenny, and 
everybody!” 

Poor little fellow! He voiced so exactly 
what was wanted—the replacement of the boat 
-—and how was that to be done ? 


THE COMING OF THE ALBATROSS 101 


“Run away again and play, darling,” Jenny 
said to him; “and don’t go far away.” 

“No; over there; quite close, Jenny!” 

And he kissed his mother and went bounding 
away as children of his age will. 

“Susan dear, and you, too, Dolly dear,” said 
Jenny, “God will see that that little child is 
saved! And Bob’s rescue means our own! I 
do beg of you, no more weakness, no more cry¬ 
ing ! Have faith in Providence as I have, as I 
have always had! ’ ’ 

So Jenny spoke out of her brave heart. 
Come what might, she would never despair. 
If the rainy season set in before the ship¬ 
wrecked people could leave this coast—and 
how could they leave it unless some ship took 
them off?—arrangements would be made to 
spend a winter there. The cave would give se¬ 
cure protection from the heavy weather. The 
heaps of sea-weed would give fuel to protect 
them from the cold. Fishing, hunting perhaps, 
would suffice to provide them with their daily 
bread. 

It was of the first importance to know 
whether John Block’s fears about the turtles 
were well founded. Happily they were not. 
After being away for an hour, the boatswain 
and Frank came back with their accustomed 
load of turtles, which had taken refuge under 
the heap of kelp. But they had not a single 
egg. 


102 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


“ Never mind, they will lay, good old 
things,’’ said John Block cheerily. 

It was impossible not to smile at the boat¬ 
swain’s little joke. In the course of their walk 
to the bastion, Captain Gould, Fritz, and 
James had seen again the impossibility of get¬ 
ting round it in any other way than by sea. 
Currents ran there, with tremendous force and 
in both directions. Even in calm weather the 
violent surf would have prevented any boat 
from getting close in, and the strongest swim¬ 
mer might have been carried out to sea or 
dashed upon the rocks. 

So the necessity of getting to the top of the 
cliff by some other means became more im¬ 
perative than ever. 

“How are we to do it?” said Fritz one day, 
gazing irritably at the inaccessible crest. 

“ You can’t get out of a prison when its walls 
are a thousand feet high,” was James’s an¬ 
swer. 

“Unless you tunnel through them,” Fritz 
replied. 

“Tunnel through that mass of granite— 
which is probably thicker than it is high?” 
said James. 

“Anyhow, we can’t remain in this prison!” 
exclaimed Fritz, in a burst of impotent but un¬ 
controllable anger. 

“Be patient, and have confidence,” said 
Frank again. 


THE COMING OF THE ALBATROSS 103 

“Patience I can have/’ Fritz retorted, “but 
confidence—that is another thing.’’ 

And indeed on what might confidence be 
placed ? Rescue could only come from a ship 
passing beyond the bay. And if one came, 
would it see their signals, the lighting of a huge 
fire on the beach or on the end of the prom¬ 
ontory ? 

A fortnight had passed since the boat came 
to land. Several more weeks passed without 
bringing any change in the situation. As to 
the food supplies, they were reduced to turtles 
and their eggs, and to crustaceans, crabs and 
lobsters, some of which John Block was gener¬ 
ally able to catch. It was he who usually oc¬ 
cupied himself with the fishing, assisted by 
Frank. Lines with bent nails for hooks taken 
from the boat’s planks, had rendered possible 
the capture of various kinds of fish: dorado 
twelve to fifteen inches long, of a beautiful 
reddish colour and excellent eating, and bass, 
or salt-water perch. Once even, a large stur¬ 
geon was caught with a slip-knot which landed 
it on the sand. 

The dog-fish, plentiful in these waters, were 
poor eating. But there was obtained from 
them a grease used to make coarse candles, for 
which wicks were fashioned out of dry sea¬ 
weed. Disturbing as the prospect of winter¬ 
ing here might be, thought had to be given to 


104 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


it, and precautions taken against the long and 
dark days of the rainy season. 

The salmon, which used to go up Jackal 
River in New Switzerland in such numbers at 
certain times of the year, were not forthcom¬ 
ing here. But one day a school of herrings 
stranded at the mouth of the little stream. 
Several hundreds of them were taken, and, 
smoked over a fire of dry sea-weed, made an 
important reserve of food. 

“Isn’t there a saying that herrings bring 
their own butter ?” John Block enquired. 
“Well, if so, here are some already cooked, 
and what I want to know is what we shall do 
with all these good things!” 

Several times during these six weeks at¬ 
tempts had been made to climb to the top of the 
cliff. As all these attempts were fruitless, 
Fritz determined to go round the bluff to the 
east. But he was careful to say nothing of his 
intention to anyone except John Block. So, on 
the morning of the 7th of December, the two 
men went to the creek, under the pretence of 
collecting turtles at its eastern point. 

There, at the foot of the enormous mass of 
rock, the sea was breaking savagely, and to get 
round it Fritz must risk his life. 

The boatswain vainly did his best to induce 
him to desist from the idea, and, failing, had no 
choice but to help him. 

After undressing, Fritz fastened a long line 


THE COMING OF THE ALBATROSS 105 


around his loins—one of the boat’s yard-ropes 
—gave the other end to John Block, and 
jumped into the sea. 

The risk was twofold—of being caught by 
the surf and thrown against the base of the 
bluff, and of being carried away by the cur¬ 
rent if the line should break. 

Twice did Fritz try without success to get 
free of the waves. It was only at the third at¬ 
tempt that he succeeded in reaching and main¬ 
taining a position in which he could look be¬ 
yond the bluff, and then John Block was 
obliged to pull him in again to the point—not 
without a good deal of trouble. 

44 Well,” the boatswain enquired, 44 what is 
there beyond?” 

44 Nothing but rocks and more rocks!” Fritz 
answered as soon as he had recovered his wind. 
44 I only saw a succession of creeks and capes. 
The cliff goes right on to the northward.” 

44 I’m not surprised,” John Block replied. 

When the result of this attempt was made 
known—one can imagine Jenny’s emotions 
when she heard of it—it seemed as if the last 
hope had vanished. This island, from which 
Captain Gould and his boat’s company could 
not escape, was apparently nothing better than 
an uninhabited and uninhabitable rock! 

And this unhappy situation was complicated 
by so many bitter regrets! But for the mu¬ 
tiny, the passengers on the Flag would have 


106 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


reached the fertile domain of the Promised 
Land a couple of months ago. Think of the 
anguish of all those who were expecting them 
and watched in vain for their coming! 

Truly these relations and friends of theirs 
were more to be pitied than Captain Gould and 
his company. At any rate, the forlorn com¬ 
pany knew that their dear ones were safe in 
New Switzerland. 

Thus the future loomed heavy with anxiety, 
and the present was hard. 

A new reason for alarm would have-been 
added if all had known what only Captain 
Gould and the boatswain knew—that the num¬ 
ber of turtles was decreasing perceptibly, in 
consequence of their daily consumption! 

“But perhaps,” John Block suggested, “it 
is because the creatures know of some passage 
underground through which they can get to 
the creeks to the east and west; it is a pity we 
can’t follow them.” 

“Anyhow, Block,” Captain Gould replied, 
“don’t say a word to our friends.” 

“Keep your mind easy, captain. I told you 
because one can tell you everything.” 

“And ought to tell me everything, Block!” 

Thereafter the boatswain was obliged to fish 
more assiduously, for the sea would never 
withhold what the land would soon deny. Of 
course, if they lived exclusively on fish and 
molluscs and crustaceans, the general health 


THE COMING OF THE ALBATROSS 107 

would suffer. And if illness broke out, thai} 
would be the last straw. 

The last week of December came. The 
weather was still fine, except for a few thun¬ 
derstorms, not so violent as the first one. The 
heat, sometimes excessive, would have been 
almost intolerable but for the great shadow 
thrown over the shore by the cliff, which shel¬ 
tered it from the sun as it traced its daily arc 
above the northern horizon. 

At this season numbers of birds thronged 
these waters—not only sea-gulls and divers, 
sea-mew and frigate birds, which were the 
usual dwellers on the shore. From time to 
time flocks of cranes and herons passed, re¬ 
minding Fritz of his excellent sport round 
Swan Lake and about the farms in the Prom¬ 
ised Land. On the top of the bluff, too, cor¬ 
morants appeared, like Jenny’s bird, now in 
the poultry-run at Rock Castle, and albatrosses 
like the one she had sent with her message from 
the Burning Rock. 

These birds kept out of range. When they 
settled on the promontory it was useless to at¬ 
tempt to get near them, and they flew at full 
speed above the inaccessible crest of the cliff. 

One day all the others were called to the 
beach by a shout from the boatswain. 

“Look there! Look there!” he continued 
to cry, pointing to the edge of the upper 
plateau. 


108 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


“What is it?” Fritz demanded. 

“Can’t you see that row of black specks 
John Block returned. 

“They are penguins,” Frank replied. 

“Yes, they are penguins,” Captain Gould 
declared; “they look no bigger than crows, but 
that is because they are perched so high up.” 

“Well,” said Fritz, “if those birds have 
been able to get up on to the plateau, it means 
that on the other side of the cliff the ascent is 
practicable.” 

That seemed certain, for penguins are 
clumsy, heavy birds, with rudimentary stumps 
instead of wings. They could not have flown 
up to the crest. So if the ascent could not be 
made on the south, it could be on the north. 
But from lack of a boat in which to go along 
the shore this hope of reaching the top of the 
cliff had to be abandoned. 

Sad, terribly sad, was the Christmas of this 
most gloomy year! Full of bitterness was the 
thought of what Christmas might have been 
in the large hall of Hock Castle, in the midst 
of the two families, with Captain Gould and 
John Block. 

Yet, in spite of all these trials, the health of 
the little company was not as yet affected. On 
the boatswain hardship had no more effect 
than disappointment. 

“I am getting fat,” he often said; “yes, I 


THE COMING OF THE ALBATROSS 109 


am getting fat! That’s what comes of spend¬ 
ing one’s time doing nothing!’’ 

Doing nothing, alas! Unhappily, in the 
present situation, there was practically noth¬ 
ing to do! 

In the afternoon of the 29th something hap¬ 
pened which recalled memories of happier 
days. 

A bird settled on a part of the promontory 
which was not inaccessible. 

It was an albatross, which had probably 
come a long way, and seemed to be very tired. 
It lay out on a rock, its legs stretched, its wings 
folded. 

Fritz determined to try to capture this bird. 
He was clever with the lasso, and he thought 
he might succeed if he made a running noose 
with one of the boat’s halyards. 

A long line was prepared by the boatswain, 
and Fritz climbed up the promontory as softly 
as possible. 

Everybody watched him. 

The bird did not move and Fritz, getting 
within a few fathoms of it, cast his lasso round 
its body. 

The bird made hardly any attempt to get 
free when Fritz, who had picked it up in his 
arms, brought it down to the beach. 

Jenny could not restrain a cry of astonish¬ 
ment. 


110 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


“It is! It is!” she exclaimed, caressing the 
bird. ‘ ‘ I am sure I recognise him! ’ ’ 

“What?” Fritz exclaimed; “you mean-” 

“Yes, Fritz, yes! It really is my albatross; 
my companion on Burning Rock; the one to 
which I tied the note that fell into your hands.” 

Could it be? Was not Jenny mistaken? 
After three whole years, could that same al¬ 
batross, which had never returned to the 
island, have flown to this coast ? 

But Jenny was not mistaken, and all were 
made quite sure about it when she showed them 
a little bit of thread still fastened round one 
of the bird ’s claws. Of the scrap of cloth on 
which Fritz had traced his few words of reply, 
nothing now remained. 

If the albatross had come from so far, it was 
no doubt because these powerful birds can fly 
vast distances. Quite likely this one had come 
from the east of the Indian Ocean to these 
regions of the Pacific possibly more than a 
thousand miles away! 

Much petting was lavished upon the mes¬ 
senger from Burning Rock. It was like a link 
between the shipwrecked people and their 
friends in New Switzerland. 

Two days later the year 1817 reached its end. 

^What did the new year hold in store ? 



CHAPTER VIII 

LITTLE BOB LOST 

I F Captain Could was not mistaken in Ms 
calculations about the geographical posi¬ 
tion of the island, the summer season could 
not have more than another three months to 
run. After that, winter would arrive, formi¬ 
dable by reason of its cold squalls and furious 
storms. The faint chance of attracting the at¬ 
tention of some ship out at sea by means of 
signals would have disappeared. In winter 
sailors avoid these dangerous waters. But just 
possibly something would happen before then 
to modify the situation. 

Existence was much what it had been ever 
since that gloomy 26th of October when the 
boat was destroyed. The monotony was ter¬ 
ribly trying to such active men. With nothing 
to do but wander about at the foot of the cliff 
which imprisoned them, tiring their eyes with 
watching the ever deserted sea, they needed 
extraordinary moral courage not to give way 
to despair. 

The long, long days were spent in conversa¬ 
tion in wMch Jenny bore the principal part, 
in 


112 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


The brave young woman loved them all, taxed 
her ingenuity to keep their minds occupied, 
and discussed all manner of schemes, as to the 
utility of which she herself was under no mis¬ 
apprehension. 

Sometimes they wondered if the island really 
lay, as they had supposed, in the west of the 
Pacific. The boatswain expressed some doubt 
on this point. 

“Is it the albatross’s coming that has 
changed your mind?” the captain asked him 
one day. 

“Well, yes, it has,” John Block replied; 
“and I am right, I think.” 

“You infer from it that this island lies 
farther north than we supposed, Block?” 

“Yes, captain; and, for all anybody knows, 
somewhere near the Indian Ocean. An alba¬ 
tross might fly hundreds of miles without rest¬ 
ing, but hardly thousands.” 

“I know that,” Captain Gould replied, “but 
I know, too, that it was to Borupt’s interest to 
take the Flag towards the Pacific! As for the 
week we were shut up in the hold, I thought, 
and so did you, that the wind was from the 
west.” 

“I agree,” the boatswain answered, “and 

yet, this albatross-. Has it come from near, 

or from far?” 

“And even supposing you are right, Block, 
even supposing we were mistaken about the 


LITTLE BOB LOST 


113 


position of this island, and that it really is only 
a few miles from New Switzerland, isn’t that 
just as bad as if it were hundreds of miles off, 
seeing that we can’t get away from it?” 

Captain Gould’s conclusion was unfortu¬ 
nately only too reasonable. Everything 
pointed to the probability of the Flag having 
steered for the Pacific, far, very far, from New 
Switzerland’s waters. And yet what John 
Block was thinking, others were thinking too. 
It seemed as if the bird from Burning Bock 
had brought hope with it. 

When the bird recovered from its exhaus¬ 
tion, which it speedily did, it was neither timid 
nor wild. It was soon walking about the beach, 
feeding on the berries of the kelp or on fish, 
which it was very clever in catching, and it 
showed no desire to fly away. 

Sometimes it would fly along the promon¬ 
tory and settle on the top of the cliff, uttering 
little cries. 

“Ah, ha!” the boatswain used to say then. 
“He is asking us up! If only he could give me 
the loan of his wings I would willingly under¬ 
take to fly up there, and look over the other 
side. Very likely that side of the coast isn’t 
any better than this one, but at any rate we 
would know.” 

Know? Bid they not know already, since 
Fritz had seen nothing but the same arid rocks 


114 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


and the same inaccessible heights beyond the 
bluff? 

One of the albatross’s chief friends was little 
Bob. A comradeship had promptly been estab¬ 
lished between the child and the bird. They 
played together on the sand. There was no 
danger to be apprehended from the teasing of 
the one or the pecking of the other. When the 
weather was bad both went into the cave where 
the albatross had his own corner. 

Serious thought had to be given to the 
chances of a winter here. But for some stroke 
of good fortune they would have to endure 
four or five months of bad weather. In these 
latitudes, in the heart of the Pacific, storms 
burst with extraordinary violence, and lower 
the temperature to a serious extent. 

Captain Gould, Fritz, and John Block 
talked sometimes of this. It was better to look 
the perils of the future squarely in the face. 
Having made up their minds to struggle on, 
they no longer felt the discouragement which 
had been caused earlier by the destruction of 
the boat. 

“If only the situation were not aggravated 
by the presence of the women and the child,” 
Captain Gould said more than once, “if we 
were only men here-” 

“All the more reason to do more than we 
should have done,” Fritz rejoined. 

One serious question cropped up in these an- 



LITTLE BOB LOST 


115 


ticipations of the winter: if the cold became 
severe, and a fire had to be kept up day and 
night, might not the supply of fuel give out ? 

Kelp was deposited on the beach by every 
incoming tide and quickly dried by the sun. 
But an acrid smoke was produced by the com¬ 
bustion of these sea-weeds, and they could not 
make use of them to warm the cave. The at¬ 
mosphere would have been rendered unbear¬ 
able. So it was thought best to close the 
entrance with the sails of the boat, fixing them 
firmly enough to withstand the squalls which 
beset the cliff during the winter. 

There remained the problem of lighting the 
inside of the cave w T hen the weather should pre¬ 
clude the possibility of working outside. 

The boatswain and Frank, assisted by Jenny 
and Dolly, made many rude candles out of the 
grease from the dog-fish which swarmed in the 
creek and were very easy to catch. 

John Block melted this grease and so ob¬ 
tained a kind of oil which coagulated as it 
cooled. Since he had at his disposal none of 
the cotton grown by M. Zermatt, he was obliged 
to content himself with the fibre of the lamina- 
rise, which furnished practicable wicks. 

There was also the question of clothes, and 
that was a different question indeed. 

“It’s pretty clear,” said the boatswain one 
day, “that when you are shipwrecked and cast 
on a desert island it is prudent to have a ship 
at your disposal in which you can find every- 


116 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 

thing you want. One makes a poor job of it 
otherwise !” 

They all agreed. That was how the Land¬ 
lord had been the salvation of the people in 
New Switzerland. 

In the afternoon of the 17th an incident of 
which no one could have foreseen the conse¬ 
quence caused the most intense anxiety. 

As already mentioned, Bob found great 
pleasure in playing with the albatross. When 
he was v amusing himself on the shore his 
mother kept a constant watch upon him, to see 
that he did not go far away, for he was fond of 
scrambling about among the low rocks of the 
promontory and running away from the waves. 
But when he stayed with the bird in the cave 
there was no risk in leaving him by himself. 

It was about three o’clock. James Wolston 
was helping the boatswain to arrange the spars 
to support the heavy curtain in front of the 
entrance to the cave. Jenny and Susan and 
Dolly were sitting in the corner by the stove 
on which the little kettle was boiling, and were 
busy mending their clothes. 

It was nearly time for Bob’s luncheon. 

Mrs. Wolston called the child. 

Bob did not answer. 

Susan went down to the beach and called 
louder, but still got no reply. 

Then the boatswain called out: 

“Bob! Bob! It’s dinner time!’* 


LITTLE BOB LOST 117 

The child did not appear, and he could not 
be seen running about the shore. 

“He was here only a minute ago,” James 
declared. 

“Where the deuce can he be?” John Block 
said to himself, as he went towards the prom¬ 
ontory. 

Captain Gould, Fritz, and Frank were walk¬ 
ing along the foot of the cliff. 

Bob was not with them. 

The boatswain made a trumpet of his hands 
and called out several times: 

“Bob! Bob!” 

The child remained invisible. 

James came up to the captain and the two 
brothers. 

“You haven’t seen Bob, have you?” he 
asked in a very anxious voice. 

“No,” Frank answered. 

“I saw him half an hour ago,” Fritz de¬ 
clared; “he was playing with the albatross.” 

And all began to call him, turning in every 
direction. 

It was in vain. 

Then Fritz and James went to the promon¬ 
tory, climbed the nearest rocks, and looked all 
over the creek. 

Neither child nor bird was there. 

Both went back to the others. Mrs. Wolston 
was pale with fear. 


118 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


“Have you looked inside the cave ?” Captain 
Gould asked. 

Fritz made one spring to the cave and 
searched every corner of it, but came back 
without the child. 

Mrs. Wolston was distracted. She went to 
and fro like a mad woman. The little boy 
might have slipped among the rocks, or fallen 
into the sea. The most alarming suppositions 
were permissible since Bob had not been found. 

So the search had to be prosecuted without 
a moment’s delay along the beach and as far as 
the creek. 

“Fritz and James,” said Captain Gould, 
“come with me along the foot of the cliff. Do 
you think Bob could have got buried in a heap 
of sea-weed?” 

“Yes, you go,” said the boatswain, “while 
Mr. Frank and I go and search the creek.” 

“And the promontory,” Frank added. “It 
is possible that Bob may have taken it into his 
head to go climbing there and have fallen into 
some hole.” 

So they separated, some going to the right, 
some to the left. Jenny and Dolly stayed with 
Mrs. Wolston and tried to allay her anxiety. 

Half an hour later, all were back again, after 
a fruitless search. Nowhere in the bay was 
any trace of the child, and all their calling had 
been without result. 

Susan’s grief broke out. She sobbed in 


LITTLE BOB LOST 


119 


anguish and had to be carried, against her will, 
into the cave. Her husband, who went with 
her, could not utter a word. 

Outside, Prank said: 

44 The child can ’t possibly be lost! I tell you 
again, I saw him on the shore scarcely an hour 
ago, and he was not near the sea. He had a 
string in his hand, with a pebble at the end of 
it, and was playing with the albatross.’’ 

4 4 By the way, where is the bird I” Prank 
asked, looking round. 

44 Yes; where is he ?” John Block echoed. 

44 Can they have disappeared together?” 
Captain Gould enquired. 

44 It looks like it,” Fritz replied. 

They looked in every direction, and espe¬ 
cially towards the rocks where the bird was 
accustomed to perch. 

It was not to be seen, nor could its cry be 
heard—a cry easily distinguishable from the 
noises of the divers, gulls, and sea-mews. 

The albatross might have flown above the 
cliff and made for some other eminence along 
the coast. But the little boy could not have 
flown away. Yet he might have been capable 
of climbing along the promontory after the 
bird. This explanation was hardly admissible, 
however, after the search that Prank and the 
boatswain had made. 

Yet it was impossible not to see some connec¬ 
tion between Bob’s disappearance and that of 


120 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


the albatross. They hardly ever separated, 
and now they were both lost together! 

Evening drew on. The father and mother 
were in terrible grief. Susan was so agitated 
that they feared for her reason. Jenny, Dolly, 
Captain Gould and the others, did not know 
what next to do. When they reflected that if 
the child had fallen into some hole he would 
have to stay there all night, they began to 
search again. A fire of sea-weed was lighted 
at the far end of the promontory, to be a guide 
for the child in case he should have gone to the 
back of the creek. But after remaining afoot 
until the last possible minute of the evening, 
they had to give up hope of finding Bob. And 
what were the chances of their being more suc¬ 
cessful next day! 

All went back into the cave, but not to sleep. 
How could they sleep? First one, and then 
another went out, watched, listened through 
the rippling of the tide, and then came back 
and sat down again without saying a word. 

It was the most sorrowful, heart-breaking 
night of all that Captain Gould and his com¬ 
pany had passed upon this deserted coast. 

About two o’clock in the morning, the sky, 
which had been brilliant with stars until then, 
began to be overcast. The breeze was now in 
the north, and the clouds from that quarter 
gathered overhead. Not yet very thick, they 


LITTLE BOB LOST 


121 


chased each other with ever increasing speed, 
and east and west of the cliff the sea must cer¬ 
tainly be rough. 

It was the time when the flood brought up 
on to the beach the rollers of the rising tide. 

Just at this moment Mrs. Wolston got up, 
and before she could be stopped she rushed out 
of the cave in delirium, shrieking: 

“My child! My child!” 

Force had to be used to get her back again. 
James, who had caught his wife up, took her in 
his arms and carried her back, more dead than 
alive. 

The unhappy mother remained stretched out 
on the heap of kelp where Bob usually slept by 
her side. Jenny and Dolly tried to bring her 
round, but it was only after great efforts on 
their part that she recovered consciousness. 

Throughout the remainder of the night the 
wind moaned incessantly round the top of the 
cliff. A score of times the men searched all 
over the shore, fearing always that the incom¬ 
ing tide might lay a little corpse upon the sand. 

But there was nothing, nothing! Could the 
child have been carried out to sea by the 
waves ? 

About four o’clock when the ebb tide was 
just setting in after the slack, light appeared 
in the east. 

At this moment Fritz, who was leaning 


122 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


against the back of the cave, thought he heard 
a kind of cry behind the wall. He listened, and 
fearing that he might be mistaken, went up to 
the captain. 

“Come with me!” he said. 

Without knowing, without even asking what 
Fritz wanted, Captain Gould went with him. 

“Listen!” said Fritz. 

Captain Gould listened intently. 

“I can hear a bird’s cry,” he said. 

“Yes, a bird’s cry!” Fritz declared. 

“Then there is a hollow behind the wall.” 

4 i There must be; and perhaps a passage com¬ 
municating with the outside; how else is it to 
be explained?” 

“You are right, Fritz!” 

John Block was told. He put his ear against 
the wall, and said positively: 

“It’s the albatross’s cry: I recognise it.” 

“And if the albatross is there,” said Fritz, 
“little Bob must be there too.” 

“But how could they both have got in?’* the 
captain asked. 

6 4 That we will find out, ’ ’ John Block replied. 

Frank and Jenny and Dolly were now told. 
James and his wife recovered a little hope. 

4 6 He is there! He is there! ’ ’ Susan said over 
and over again. 

John Block had lighted one of the thick 
candles. That the albatross was behind the 


LITTLE BOB LOST 123 

wall nobody could doubt, for its cry continued 
to be heard. 

But just before looking to see if it had 
slipped in by some opening outside, it was 
necessary to make sure that the back wall had 
no orifice. 

Candle in hand, the boatswain began to 
examine this wall. 

John Block could only see on its surface a 
few fissures which were too narrow for the 
albatross or Bob to get through. But at the 
bottom a hole, twenty to twenty-five inches 
wide, was hollowed out in the ground, a hole 
big enough to take the bird and the child. 

Meantime, however, the albatross’s cry had 
ceased, and all were afraid that Captain Gould, 
the boatswain, and Fritz must have been mis¬ 
taken. 

Then Jenny took John Block’s place, and 
stooping down level with the hole, she called 
the bird several times. The albatross knew her 
voice as well as it knew her caress. 

A cry answered her, and almost immediately 
the bird came out through the hole. 

4 4 Bob! Bob! ” Jenny called again. 

The child did not answer, did not appear. 
Was he not with the bird behind the wall ? His 
mother could not restrain a cry of despair. 

4 4 Wait! ” said the boatswain. 

He crouched down and enlarged the hole, 
throwing the sand out behind him. In a few 


124 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


minutes he had made the hole large enough for 
him to squeeze into it. 

A minute later he brought out little Bob, 
who had fainted, but who was not long in re¬ 
covering consciousness under his mother’s 
kisses. 


CHAPTERIX 


BOB FOUND 

I T took Mrs. Wolston some time to recover 
from her terrible shock. But Boh was re¬ 
stored to her, and that comforted her. 

It appeared that Bob, playing with the al¬ 
batross, had followed it to the back of the cave. 
The bird made its way in through the narrow 
passage, and Bob went after it. A dark exca¬ 
vation opened out at the end, and when the 
little fellow wanted to get out of this he found 
that he could not. At first he called, but his 
calls were not heard. Then he lost conscious¬ 
ness, and nobody knows what might have hap¬ 
pened if by the luckiest chance Fritz had not 
happened to hear the cry of the albatross. 

“Well,” said the boastwain, “now that Bob 
is in his mother’s arms again, everything is for 
the best. Thanks to him we have discovered 
another cave. It is true we haven’t any use to 
put it to. The first one was enough for us, and 
as a matter of fact we ask nothing better than 
to get away from that one.” 

“But I want to find out how far it runs 
back,” Captain Gould remarked. 

“Right to the other side of the cliff, do you 
fancy, captain?” 


125 


126 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


“Who can tell, Blockf” 

6 ‘ All right, ’ ’ the boatswain answered. ‘ ‘ But 
even supposing it does run through the cliff, 
what shall we find on the other side? Sand, 
rocks, creeks, promontories, and as much green 
stuff as I can cover with my hat.” 

“That’s very likely,” Fritz replied. “But 
none the less we must look.” 

“ We ’ll look, Mr. Fritz; we ’ll look. Looking 
costs nothing, as the saying is.” 

The investigation might have such priceless 
results that it had to be undertaken without 
delay. 

The captain, Fritz, and Frank went back to 
the end of the cave. The boatswain walked be¬ 
hind them, armed with several big candles. 
To make the way easier, those in front en¬ 
larged the aperture by removing some more of 
the stones which had fallen into it. 

A quarter of an hour sufficed to make the 
opening large enough. None of them had put 
on flesh since they had landed. Only the boat¬ 
swain had not lost weight since he had left the 
Flag . 

When they had all got through, the candles 
gave sufficient light for them to examine this 
second excavation. 

It was deeper than the first one, but much 
narrower, a hundred feet or so long, ten or 
twelve feet in diameter, and about the same 
height. It was possible that other passages 


BOB FOUND 


127 


branched off from it and formed a kind of 
labyrinth inside the massive cliff. Captain 
Gould wondered whether one of these branches 
might not perhaps lead, if not to the top of the 
cliff, at any rate beyond the bluff or the bastion. 

When Captain Gould urged this point again 
John Block replied: 

“It certainly is possible. Who knows 
whether we shan’t reach the top through the 
inside, although we couldn’t do so outside?” 

When they had gone some fifty feet through 
this passage, which gradually got narrower, 
Captain Gould, the boatswain, and Fritz came 
to a wall of rock before which they were 
obliged to stop. 

John Block passed the light all over its sur¬ 
face from the ground to the vault, but found 
only narrow fissures into which the hand could 
not be put. So there was no more hope of 
penetrating further through the solid mass. 

Nor did the side walls of the passage disclose 
any aperture. This second excavation beyond 
the first cave was the sole discovery resulting 
from the incident. 

“Well,” said Captain Gould, “it’s not by 
this way that we shall get through the cliff.” 

“Nor over it,” added the boatswain. 

And, having made sure of that, they could do 
nothing but go back. 

As a matter of fact, although it was rather 


128 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


disappointing not to find any inner passage, 
nobody bad thought it likely. 

And yet when Captain Gould and John 
Block and Fritz got back, they had a feeling of 
being more confined than ever on this shore. 

During the next few days the weather, very 
fine hitherto, showed signs of changing. Light 
clouds, which soon grew thicker, obscured the 
blue sky, blown over the plateau above by a 
northerly breeze which, in the evening of the 
22nd of January, strengthened until it blew a 
gale. 

Coming from that quarter, the wind was no 
menace to Turtle Bay. Sheltered by the cliff, 
the bay was not exposed to the breakers, as it 
had been in the violent storm which had caused 
the destruction of the boat. The sea would re¬ 
main calm along the shore, not getting the 
force of the wind nearer than a good mile and a 
half from the coast. Even if a hurricane burst 
there would be nothing to fear. 

A heavy thunderstorm broke on the night of 
the 22nd. About one o’clock in the morning 
everybody was awakened suddenly by a crash 
of thunder that made a more appalling noise 
than a cannon fired at the mouth of the cave 
could have done. 

Fritz, Frank, and the boatswain sprang 
from their corners, and rushed to the door. 

“The lightning struck quite close by,’- said 
Frank. 


BOB FOUND 


129 


“At the crest of the cliff above ns, most 
likely,” replied John Block, going a few steps 
outside. 

Susan and Dolly, who were always greatly 
affected by thunderstorms, as many people of 
nervous temperament are, had followed Jenny 
outside the cave. 

“ Well ? ” Dolly enquired. 

“There is no danger, Dolly, dear,” Frank 
answered. “Go back and close your eyes and 
ears.” 

But Jenny was just saying to her husband, 
who had come up to her: 

“What a smell of smoke, Fritz!” 

“That’s not surprising,” said the boatswain. 
“There is the fire—over there.” 

“Where?” Captain Gould asked sharply. 

“On that heap of sea-weed at the foot of the 
cliff.” 

The lightning had set fire to the heap of dry 
weed. In a few minutes the flames had spread 
to the mass of sea-weeds collected at the base of 
the cliff. It burned up like straw, crackling in 
the breeze, eddying about like will-of-the- 
wisps, and spreading an acrid smoke over the 
whole beach. 

Fortunately, the entrance to the cave was 
clear, and the fire could not reach it. 

“That’s our reserve burning!” John Block 
exclaimed. 

“Can’t we save any of it?” said Fritz. 


130 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


“I fear not!” Captain Gould replied. 

The flames spread so rapidly that it was im¬ 
possible to remove to safety the heaps which 
furnished the only fuel the shipwrecked people 
had. 

True, the quantity deposited by the sea was 
inexhaustible. The stuff would continue to be 
thrown up, but it would take a long time for 
such a quantity to accumulate. The incoming 
tide deposited a few armfuls twice in every 
twenty-four hours. What had lain on the 
beach was the harvest of many years. And 
who could say that, in the few weeks remaining 
before the rainy season, the tide would have 
thrown up enough for the winter’s need? 

In less than a quarter of an hour the line of 
fire had ringed the whole circle of the shore, 
and except for a few heaps along the promon¬ 
tory there was nothing left. 

This fresh hammer-blow of evil fortune ag¬ 
gravated the situation, already so disturbing. 

‘ ‘ Upon my word, it’s no go! ” 

And coming from the lips of the boatswain, 
who was always so confident, the words had 
exceptional significance. 

But they would not make the walls of the 
prison fall down, to allow the prisoners to 
escape! 

Next morning the weather, though no longer 
thundery, was still unsettled, and the north 
wind continued to sweep the plateau fiercely. 


BOB FOUND 


131 


Their first business was to see whether the 
sea-weeds piled up along the bastion had been 
spared by the fire. They had been partially. 
The men brought back in their arms enough to 
last for a week, exclusive of what the tides 
would bring up every day. 

While the wind continued to blow from the 
north these floating masses would, of course, be 
carried to sea. 

But as soon as it veered round to the south 
again, the harvest could be gathered more 
abundantly. 

Nevertheless, Captain Gould pointed out 
that some precautions would have to be taken 
for the future. 

“Quite right, captain,’’ John Block an¬ 
swered; “it would be a good plan to put what 
is left of the sea-weed under cover, in case we 
have to winter here.” 

“Why not store it in the second cave that we 
have just discovered?” Fritz suggested. 

That seemed to be expressly indicated, and 
that day, before noon, Fritz resolved to go back 
into the cave, in order to examine its nature 
and arrangements inside. Provided with a 
candle, he crept through the narrow opening 
communicating between the two caves. Who 
could say if the second one had not some means 
of egress beyond the mass of rock ? 

But just as he reached the far end of the 
long passage, Fritz felt a fresher breath of air, 


132 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


and at the same moment his ear detected a con¬ 
tinual whistling sound. 

“Wind!” he muttered. “That’s wind!” 

He put his face near the wall, and his hand 
found several fissures in it. 

“Wind!” he said again. “It certainly is 
wind! It gets in here when it blows from the 
north. So there is a passage, either on the 
side or at the top of the cliff! But then, on this 
side, it would mean that there is a communica¬ 
tion with the northern flank of the cliff! ’ ’ 

Just at that moment the candle which Fritz 
was passing along the wall went out suddenly, 
in a stronger draught blowing through one of 
the fissures. 

Fritz did not wait for anything more. He 
was convinced. If one got through this wall 
one would have free access to the outside! 

To crawl back to the cave where all were 
waiting for him, to tell them of his discovery, 
to take them back again with him, and make 
sure that he was right, was only the work of 
minutes. 

In a few minutes more Fritz, followed by 
Captain Gould, John Block, and James, went 
from the first cave into the second. They 
lighted their way by candles which, on this oc¬ 
casion, they were careful not to put too near 
the wall at the far end. 

Fritz was not mistaken. Fresh air was 
blowing freely through the passage. 


BOB FOUND 


133 


Then the boatswain, passing the light along 
the level of the ground, noticed that the pass¬ 
age was closed only by a heap of stones which 
had no doubt fallen right down a kind of nat¬ 
ural shaft. 

“The door!” he exclaimed. “There’s the 
door! And no need of a key to open it with! 
Ah, captain, you were in the right of it 
after all!” 

“Get on to it! Get on to it!” was all Cap¬ 
tain Gould’s reply. 

It was easy to clear the passage of the ob¬ 
structing stones. They passed them from hand 
to hand, quite a lot of them, for the heap was 
five or six feet above the ground level. As the 
work proceeded the current of air became 
stronger. There most certainly was a sort of 
gorge carved out inside the mass of the rock. 

A quarter of an hour was enough to clear the 
passage entirely. 

Fritz was the first through, and, followed by 
the others, he went ten or twelve steps up a 
very steep slope, dimly lighted. 

There was no vertical shaft. A gorge, five 
or six feet wide and open to the sky, wound be¬ 
tween two walls which rose to an immense 
height, and a strip of blue sky formed its ceil¬ 
ing. It was down this gorge the wind rushed, 
to creep through the fissures in the wall at the 
end of the passage. 


134 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 

And so the cliff was rent right through! 
But where did the rift open out ? 

They could not tell until they had reached 
the far end of it, supposing they found it pos¬ 
sible to do so. 

But for all that they stood like prisoners 
before whom the gaol doors have just opened! 

It was barely eight o’clock, and there was 
plenty of time. They did not even discuss the 
question of sending Fritz or the boatswain on 
in advance to explore. Everyone wanted to go 
up the passage at once, without losing a minute. 

“But we must take some provisions,” Jenny 
said. “Who can tell whether we shall not be 
away longer than we thinks” 

“Besides,” Fritz added, “have we any idea 
where we are going?” 

“Outside,” the boatswain replied. 

The simple word, so exactly expressing the 
general sentiment, answered everything. 

But Captain Gould insisted that they should 
have breakfast first, also that they should take 
provisions for several days with them, in case 
they should be delayed. 

Breakfast was hurried through. After four 
months passed in this bay, they were natu¬ 
rally in a hurry to find out whether their situa¬ 
tion had improved, perhaps even changed 
entirely. 

Besides, there would still be time to come 
back, if the upper plateau proved to be as bar- 


BOB FOUND 


135 


ren as the shore, if it were unsuitable for a 
settlement, if from the extreme summit no 
other land were to be seen in the proximity. 
If the castaways from the Flag found they had 
landed on an island or islet, they would return 
to the cave and make their arrangements to 
meet the winter there. 

Directly the meal was finished the men took 
the bundles of provisions. The first cave was 
left, and, with the albatross walking beside 
Jenny, all went through the mouth of the 
passage. 

When they came to the mouth of the gorge, 
Fritz and Frank went through first. After 
them came Jenny, Dolly, and Susan, holding 
little Bob’s hand. 

Captain Gould and James came next, and 
John Block closed the rear. 

At first the gorg£ was so narrow that they 
had to walk in single file. 

It was really nothing but a cleft in the solid 
rock, running in a northerly direction between 
two vertical walls which rose to a height of 
eight or nine hundred feet. 

After a hundred yards or so in a straight 
line, the ground began to slope upwards rather 
steeply. The way must be a long one, for if it 
did debouch upon the plateau it would have 
had to make up the five hundred feet or so from 
the level of the beach to the upper part of the 
cliff. Moreover, the journey was soon length- 


136 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


ened by the twists and turns of the path. It 
was like the abrupt and capricious twisting 
of a labyrinth inside the mass of rock. But 
judging from the light that spread from above, 
Harry Gould believed that the general direc¬ 
tion of the gorge was from south to north. The 
lateral walls gradually drew further apart, 
rendering the march much easier. 

About ten o’clock they were obliged to call 
a halt to allow everyone to recover breath. 
They stopped in a sort of semi-circular cavity, 
above which a much larger slice of the sky was 
visible. 

Captain Gould estimated that this spot was 
about two hundred feet above the level of the 
sea. 

“At this rate,” he remarked, “it will take us 
five or six hours to reach the top.” 

“Well,” Fritz replied, “it will still be broad 
daylight when we get there, and if need be we 
shall have time to get down again before 
night.” 

“Quite true, Fritz,” the captain replied, 
“but how can we be sure that the gorge is not 
lengthened by an even greater number of 
turnings?” 

“Or that it does not come out upon the 
cliff?” Frank added. 

“Whether it’s at the top or the side of the 
cliff, let us take things as they come,” the boat¬ 
swain put in. “Above, if it is above, below, if 


BOB FOUND 


137 


it is below! After all, this don’t matter much! ’’ 

After a rest of half an hour, the march was 
resumed. The gorge, which wound about ever 
more and more, and now measured ten to 
twelve feet across, was carpeted with a sandy 
soil, scattered with pebbles, and without a sign 
of vegetation. It seemed as though the sum¬ 
mit must be an arid waste, for otherwise some 
seed or germ would have been carried down by 
the rain and would have sprouted. But there 
was nothing here—not even a patch of lichen 
or moss. 

About two o’clock in the afternoon another 
halt was called for rest and refreshment. They 
all sat down in a kind of clearing where the 
walls widened out like a bell, and over which 
the sun was passing on its downward way to 
the west. The height now attained was esti¬ 
mated at seven or eight hundred feet, which 
justified the hope of reaching the upper 
plateau. 

At three o’clock the journey was resumed. 
The difficulties became momentarily greater. 
The slope was very steep, the ground strown 
with landslips which made climbing hard, and 
there were large stones which slipped and 
bounded down. The gorge, which had widened 
out considerably, now formed a ravine, with 
sides still rising two or three hundred feet in 
height. They had to help one another, and pull 
each other up by the arms. Everything pointed 


138 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


to the possibility of reaching the plateau now. 
And the albatross spread out its wings and 
rose with a spring, as if inviting them to fol¬ 
low. Oh! if only they could have followed in 
its flight! 

At last, after incredible efforts, a little be¬ 
fore five o’clock, they all stood on the top of 
the cliff. 

To south, to east, to west, nothing at all was 
to be seen—nothing but the vast expanse of 
ocean! 

Northwards, the plateau extended over an 
area which could not be estimated, for its 
boundary crest could not be seen. Did it pre¬ 
sent a perpendicular wall on that side, front¬ 
ing the sea ? Would they have to go to the far 
end of it, to see the horizon of the sea in that 
direction ? 

Altogether, it was a disappointing sight for 
people who had hoped to set foot upon some 
fertile, verdant, wooded region. The same 
arid desolation reigned here as at Turtle Bay, 
which was perhaps less depressing, if not less 
sterile, since mosses did gem it here and there, 
and there were plenty of sea-weeds on its sandy 
shore. 

And when they turned towards the east and 
the west, they looked in vain for the outlines 
of a continent or island. Everything went to 
show that this was a lonely islet in the middle 
of these wastes of water. 


BOB FOUND 


139 


Not a word was uttered by anyone before 
this dashing of their last hopes. These ghastly 
solitudes offered no resources. There was 
nothing to do but descend the ravine, get back 
to the shore, go into the cave again, settle 
down there for the long winter months, and 
wait for rescue from outside! 

It was now five o’clock, and there was no 
time to be lost before the darkness of evening 
fell. In the gathering shades the walking 
would not be easy. 

Yet, since the northern part of the plateau 
had still to be explored, it seemed best to make 
the exploration now. Might it not even be 
well to camp for the night among the rocks 
scattered all over the surface? But perhaps 
that would not be prudent. If the weather 
changed, where could shelter be found ? Pru¬ 
dence required that they should go back with¬ 
out delay. 

Then Fritz made a suggestion. 

“Jenny, dear, let James and Frank take you 
back to the cave with Dolly and Mrs. Wolston 
and the little chap. You can’t spend the night 
on the cliff. Captain Gould, John Block, and 
I will stay here, and directly it is light to¬ 
morrow we will finish our exploration.” 

Jenny did not answer, and Susan and Dolly 
seemed to be consulting her with their eyes. 

“What Fritz suggests is wise,” Frank put 


140 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


in; “and besides, what good can we hope to do 
by staying here^” 

Jenny continued to keep silence, with her 
eyes fixed upon the vast ocean which spread 
over three-quarters of the horizon, looking per¬ 
haps for the sight of a sail, telling herself that 
a light might appear in the far offing. 

The sun was sinking rapidly already, among 
clouds driven from the north, and it would 
mean at least two hours’ march through dense 
darkness to reach Turtle Bay. 

Fritz began again: 

4 4 Jenny, I beg you, go! No doubt to-morrow 
will be enough for us. We shall be back in the 
evening.” 

Jenny cast a last look all round her. All had 
risen, ready to make a start. The faithful 
albatross was fluttering from rock to rock, 
while the other birds, sea-mews, gulls and div¬ 
ers, flew back to their holes in the cliff, uttering 
parting screams. 

The young woman realised that she must do 
as her husband advised, and regretfully she 
said: 

“Let us go.” 

Suddenly the boatswain sprang to his feet, 
and making an ear-trumpet of his hand, lis¬ 
tened intently. 

A report, muffled by the distance, was 
audible from the north. 

44 A gun!” exclaimed John Block. 


CHAPTER X 

THE ELAG ON THE PEAK 

A LL stood motionless, their hearts tense 
with excitement, their eyes turned to- 
_ wards the northern horizon, listening 
intently, scarcely breathing. 

In the distance a few more shots rang out, 
the sound borne to them on the faint breath of 
the breeze. 

“It’s a ship passing off the coast!” said Cap¬ 
tain Gould at length. 

“Yes; those reports can only come from a 
ship,” John Block replied; “when night falls, 
perhaps we shall see her lights.’’ 

“But couldn’t those shots have been fired on 
land?” Jenny suggested. 

“On land, Jenny dear?” Fritz exclaimed. 
“You mean there may be some land near this 
island?” 

“I think it is more likely that there is some 
ship off there to the northward,” Captain 
Gould said again. 

“Why should it have fired the gun?” James 
asked. 

“Yes, why?” Jenny echoed him. 

141 


142 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


If tho second surmise were the right one, it 
followed that the ship could not be very far 
from the shore. Perhaps when it was quite 
dark they would be able to distinguish the 
flashes from the guns, if they were fired again. 
They might also see her lights before long. 
But, since the sound of the guns had come from 
the north, it was quite possible that the ship 
would remain invisible, since the sea in that 
direction could not be seen. 

No longer did anyone think of going 
through the ravine, back to Turtle Bay. What¬ 
ever the weather might be, they would all re¬ 
main where they were until day. Unfortu¬ 
nately, in the event of a ship coming down on 
the west or east, lack of wood would prevent 
them from lighting a fire to signal it. 

Those distant reports had stirred their 
hearts to the very depths. They seemed united 
by them once more to their kind, felt as though 
this island were now not so utterly isolated. 

They would have liked to go at once to the 
far end of the plateau, and to watch the sea to 
the northward, whence the cannon shots had 
come. But the evening was getting on, and 
night would fall quite soon—a night without 
moon or stars, darkened by the low clouds that 
the breeze was chasing to the south. They 
could not venture among the rocks in darkness. 
It would be difficult enough by day; it was im¬ 
possible by night. 


THE FLAG ON THE PEAK 


143 


So it became necessary to settle themselves 
for the night where they were, and everyone 
got busy. After a long search the boatswain 
discovered a kind of recess, a space between 
two rocks, where Jenny, Susan, Dolly, and the 
little boy could lie close to the ground, as there 
was no sand or sea-weed for them to lie on. 
They would at least have shelter from the wind 
if it should freshen, even shelter from the rain 
if the clouds broke. 

The provisions were taken from the bags and 
all ate. There was food for several days, in 
any case. And might not all fear of spending 
a winter in Turtle Bay soon be banished for 
ever? 

Night fell—an endless night it seemed, whose 
long drawn hours no one could ever forget, ex¬ 
cept little Bob, who slept in his mother’s arms. 
Utter darkness reigned. From the sea-coast 
the lights of a ship would have been visible 
several miles out at sea. 

Captain Gould, and most of the others, in¬ 
sisted on remaining afoot until daybreak. 
Their eyes incessantly wandered over the east 
and west and south, in the hope of seeing a 
vessel passing off the island, and not without 
fears that she might leave it astern, never to 
return to it. Had they been in Turtle Bay at 
this moment, they would have lighted a fire 
upon the end of the promontory. Here, that 
was impossible. 


144 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


No light shone out before the return of dawn, 
no report broke the silence of the night, no 
ship came in sight of the island. 

The men began to wonder whether they had 
not been mistaken, if they had not taken for the 
sound of cannon what might only have been the 
roar of some distant storm. 

“No, no,” Fritz insisted, “we were not mis¬ 
taken ! It really was a cannon firing out there 
in the north, a good long way away.” 

“I’m sure of it,” the boatswain replied. 

“But why should they be firing guns?” 
James Wolston urged. 

“Either in salute or in self-defence,” Fritz 
answered. 

“Perhaps some savages have landed on the 
island and made an attack,” Frank sug¬ 
gested. 

“Anyhow,” the boatswain answered, “it 
wasn’t savages who fired those guns.” 

4 ‘ So the island would be inhabited by Ameri¬ 
cans or Europeans?” James enquired. 

“Well, to begin with, is it only an island?” 
Captain Gould replied. “How do we know 
what is beyond this cliff? Are we perhaps 
upon some very large island-” 

“A very large island in this part of the 
Pacific?” Fritz rejoined. “Which one? I 
don’t see-” 

“In my opinion,” John Block remarked, 
with much good sense, “it is useless to argue 




THE FLAG ON THE PEAK 


145 


about all that. The truth is we don’t know 
whether our island is in the Pacific or the 
Indian Ocean. Let us have a little patience 
until dawn, which will break quite soon, and 
then we will go and see what there is up there 
to the northward. ” 

‘ 4 Perhaps everything—perhaps nothing! ’’ 
said James. 

“Well,” the boatswain retorted, “it will be 
something to know which ! 9 9 

About five o’clock the first glimmer of dawn 
began to show. Low on the horizon the east 
grew pale. The weather was very calm, for 
the wind had dropped towards morning. The 
clouds which had been chased by the breeze 
were now replaced by a veil of mist, through 
which the sun eventually broke. The whole 
sky gradually cleared. The streak of light 
drawn sharply across the east grew wider— 
spread over the line of sky and sea. The 
glorious sun appeared, throwing long stream¬ 
ers of light over the surface of the waters. 

Eagerly all eyes travelled over so much of 
the ocean as was visible. 

But no vessel was to be seen! 

At this moment Captain Gould was joined 
by Jenny, Dolly, and by Susan Wolston, who 
was holding her child’s hand. 

The albatross fluttered to and fro, hopped 
from rock to rock, and sometimes went quite 


146 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


far off to the northward, as if it were pointing 
out the way. 

“It looks as if he were showing us where to 
go,” said Jenny. 

u ¥e must follow him!” Dolly exclaimed. 

“Not until we have had breakfast,” Captain 
Gould replied. “We may have several hours’ 
marching in front of us, and we must keep up 
our strength.” 

They shared the provisions hurriedly, so im¬ 
patient were they to be off, and before seven 
o’clock they were moving towards the north. 

It was most difficult walking among the 
rocks. Captain Gould and the boatswain, in 
advance, pointed out the practicable paths. 
Then Fritz came helping Jenny, Frank help¬ 
ing Dolly, and James helping Susan and little 
Bob. 

Nowhere did the foot encounter grass or 
sand. It was all a chaotic accumulation of 
stones, what might have been a vast field of 
scattered rocks or moraines. Over it birds 
were flying, frigate-birds, sea-mews, and sea- 
swallows, in whose flight the albatross some¬ 
times joined. 

They marched for an hour, at the cost of 
immense fatigue, and had accomplished little 
more than two miles, steadily up hill There 
was no change in the appearance of the nature 
of the plateau. 


THE FLAG ON THE PEAK 147 

It was absolutely necessary to call a halt in 
order to get a little rest. 

Fritz then suggested that he should go on 
ahead with Captain Gould and John Block. 
That would spare the others fresh fatigue. 

The proposal was unanimously rejected. 
They would not separate. They all wanted to 
be there when—or if—the sea became visible 
in the northward. 

The march was resumed about nine o’clock. 
The mist tempered the heat of the sun. At 
this season it might have been insupportable 
on this stony waste, on which the rays fell 
almost vertically at noon. 

While still extending towards the north, the 
plateau was widening out to east and west, and 
the sea, which so far had been visible in both 
these directions, would soon be lost to sight. 
And still there was not a tree, not a trace of 
vegetation, nothing but the same sterility and 
solitude. A few low hills rose here and there 
ahead. 

At eleven o’clock a kind of cone showed its 
naked peak, towering some three hundred feet 
above this portion of the plateau. 

“We must get to the top of that,” said 
Jenny. 

“Yes,” Fritz replied; “from there we shall 
be able to see over a much wider horizon. But 
it may be a rough climb!” 

It probably would be, but so irresistible was 


148 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


the general desire to ascertain the actual situa¬ 
tion that no one would have consented to re¬ 
main behind, however great the fatigue might 
be. Yet who could tell whether these poor 
people were not marching to a last disappoint¬ 
ment, to the shattering of their last hope ? 

They resumed their journey towards the 
peak, which now was about half a mile away. 
Every step was difficult, and progress was 
painfully slow among the hundreds of rocks 
which must be scrambled over or gone round. 
It was more like a chamois track than a foot¬ 
path. The boatswain insisted on carrying 
little Bob, and his mother gave the child to 
him. Fritz and Jenny, Frank and Dolly, and 
James and Susan kept near together, that the 
men might help the women over the dangerous 
bits. 

It was past two o’clock in the afternoon 
when the base of the cone was reached. They 
had taken three hours to cover less than a mile 
and three quarters since the last halt. But they 
were obliged to rest again. 

The stop was of short duration, and in 
twenty minutes the climbing began. 

It had occurred to Captain Gould to go 
round the peak, to avoid a tiring climb. But 
its base was seen to be impassable, and, after 
all, the height was not great. 

At the outset the foot found hold upon a soil 


THE FLAG ON THE PEAK 


149 


where scanty plants were growing, clumps of 
stonecrops to which the fingers could cling. 

Half an hour sufficed to bring them half-way 
up the peak. Then Fritz, who was in front, 
let a cry of surprise escape him. 

All stopped, looking at him. 

“What is that, up there ?” he said, pointing 
to the extreme top of the cone. 

A stick was standing upright there, a stick 
five or six feet long, fixed between the highest 
rocks. 

“Can it be a branch of a tree, with all the 
leaves stripped off?” said Frank. 

“No; that is not a branch,” Captain Gould 
declared. 

“It is a stick—a walking-stick!” Fritz de¬ 
clared. “A stick which has been set up there . 99 

“And to which a flag has been fastened,” the 
boatswain added; “and the flag is still there!” 

A flag at the summit of this peak! 

Yes; and the breeze was beginning to stir 
the flag, although from this distance the col¬ 
ours could not be identified. 

“Then there are inhabitants on this island!” 
Frank exclaimed. 

“Not a doubt of it!” Jenny declared. 

“Or if not,” Fritz went on, “it is clear, at 
any rate, that someone has taken possession 
of it.” 

‘ 6 What island is this, then ? ” James Wolston 
demanded. 


150 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 

“Or, rather, what flag is this?” Captain 
Gould added. 

“An English flag!” the boatswain cried. 
“Look: red bunting with the yacht in the 
corner!” 

The wind had just spread out the flag, and 
it certainly was a British flag. 

How they sprang from rock to rock! A hun¬ 
dred and fifty feet still separated them from 
the summit, but they were no longer conscious 
of fatigue, did not try to recover their wind, 
but hurried up without stopping, carried along 
by what seemed supernatural strength! 

At length, just before three o’clock, Captain 
Gould and his companions stood side by side 
on the top of the peak. 

Their disappointment was bitter when they 
turned their eyes towards the north. 

A thick mist hid the horizon. It was impos¬ 
sible to discover whether the plateau ended on 
this side in a perpendicular cliff, as it did at 
Turtle Bay, or whether it spread much further 
beyond. Through this dense fog nothing could 
be seen. Above the layer of vapour the sky 
was still bright with the rays of the sun, now 
beginning to decline into the west. 

Well, they would camp there and wait un¬ 
til the breeze had driven the fog away! Not 
one of them would go back without having ex¬ 
amined the northern portion of the island! 

For was there not a British flag there, float- 


THE FLAG ON THE PEAK 


151 


ing in the breeze? Did it not say as plainly 
as words that this land was known, that it 
must figure in latitude and longitude on the 
English charts ? 

And those guns they had heard the day be¬ 
fore, who could say that they did not come 
from ships saluting the flag as they moved by? 
Who could say that there was not some harbour 
on this coast, that there were not ships at 
anchor there at this very moment ? 

And, even if this land were merely a small 
islet, would there be anything wonderful in 
Great Britain having taken possession of it, 
when it lay on the confines of the Indian and 
the Pacific Oceans ? Alternatively, why should 
it not belong to the Australian continent, so 
little of which was known in this direction, 
which was part of the British dominions ? 

As they talked a bird’s cry rang out, fol¬ 
lowed by a rapid beating of wings. 

It was Jenny’s albatross, which had just 
taken flight, and was speeding away through 
the mists towards the north. 

Whither was the bird going? Towards 
some distant shore ? 

Its departure produced a feeling of depres¬ 
sion, even of anxiety. It seemed like a deser¬ 
tion. 

But time was passing. Thq intermittent 
breeze was not strong enough to disperse the 
fog, whose heavy scrolls were rolling at the 


152 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


base of the cone. Would the night fall before 
the northern horizon had been laid bare to 
view? 

But no; all hope was not yet lost. As the 
mists began to decrease, Fritz was able to make 
out that the cone dominated, not a cliff, but 
long slopes, which probably extended as far as 
the level of the sea. 

Then the wind freshened, the folds of the 
flag stiffened, and, nearly level with the mists, 
everyone could see the declivity for a distance 
of a hundred yards. 

It was no longer a mere accumulation of 
rocks, it was the other side of a mountain, 
where showed growths on which they had not 
set eyes for many a long month! 

How they feasted their sight on these wide 
stretches of verdure, on the shrubs, aloes, mas¬ 
tic-trees, and myrtles which were growing 
everywhere! No; they would not wait for the 
fog to disperse, and besides, it was imperative 
that they should reach the base of the moun¬ 
tain before night enveloped them in its 
shadows! 

But now, eight or nine hundred feet below, 
through the rifts in the mist, appeared the top 
of the foliage of a forest which extended for 
several miles; then a vast and fertile plain, 
strown with clumps of trees and groves, with 
broad meadows and vast grass-lands traversed 


THE FLAG ON THE PEAK 153 

by water-courses, the largest of which ran east¬ 
wards towards a bay in the coast-line. 

On the east and west, the sea extended to the 
furthest limit of the horizon. Only on the 
north was it wanting to make of this land, not 
an islet, but a large island. 

Finally, very far away, could be seen the 
faint outlines of a rocky rampart running from 
west to east. Was that the edge of a coast? 

“Let us go! Let us go!” cried Fritz. 

“Yes; let us go!” Frank echoed him. “We 
shall be down before night.” 

“And we will pass the night in the shelter 
of the trees,” Captain Gould added. 

The last mists cleared away. Then the ocean 
was revealed over a distance which might be 
as much as eighteen or twenty miles. 

This was an island—it was certainly an 
island! 

They then saw that the northern coast was 
indented by three bays of unequal size, the 
largest of which lay to the north-west, an¬ 
other to the north, while the smallest opened 
to the north-east, and was more deeply cut into 
the coast-line than the other two. The arm of 
the sea which gave access to it was bounded by 
two distant capes, one of which had at its end 
a lofty promontory. 

No other land showed out to sea. Not a sail 
appeared on the horizon. 

Looking back towards the south the eye was 


154 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


held by the top of the crest of the cliff which 
enclosed Turtle Bay, five miles or so away. 

What a contrast between the desert region 
which Captain Gould and his companions had 
just crossed and the land which now lay before 
their eyes! Here was a fertile and variegated 
champaign, forests, plains, everywhere the lux¬ 
uriant vegetation of the tropics! But no¬ 
where was there a hamlet, or a village, or a 
single habitation. 

And then a cry—a cry of sudden revelation 
which he could not have restrained!—broke 
from the breast of Fritz, while both his arms 
were stretched out towards the north. 

“ New Switzerland! ’ ’ 

“Yes; New Switzerland!” Frank cried in 
his turn. 

“New Switzerland!” echoed Jenny and 
Dolly, in tones broken by emotion. 

And so, in front of them, beyond that forest, 
and beyond those prairies, the rocky barrier 
that they could see was the rampart through 
which the defile of Cluse opened on to the 
Green Valley! Beyond lay the Promised 
Land, with its woods and farms and Jackal 
River! There was Falconhurst in the heart of 
its mangrove wood, and beyond Rock Castle 
and the trees in its orchards! That bay on the 
left was Pearl Bay, and farther away, like a 
small black speck, was the Burning Rock, 
crowned with the smoke from its crater; there 


THE FLAG ON THE PEAK 


155 


was Nautilus Bay, with False Hope Point pro¬ 
jecting from it; and Deliverance Bay, pro¬ 
tected by Shark’s Island! And why should it 
not have been the guns from that battery whose 
report they had heard the day before, for there 
was no ship to be seen either in the bay or out 
in the open sea ? 

Joyful exceedingly, with throbbing hearts 
and eyes wet with tears of gratitude, all of 
them joined with Frank in the prayer which 
went up to God. 


CHAPTER XI 

BY WELL-KNOWN WAYS 

T HE cave in which Mr. Wolston, Ernest, 
and Jack had spent the night four 
months before, on the day before the 
English flag was planted at the summit of Jean 
Zermatt peak, was that evening full of happi¬ 
ness. If no one enjoyed a tranquil sleep, sleep¬ 
lessness was not due to bad dreams but to the 
excitement of the recent happenings. 

After their prayer of thanksgiving, they had 
all declined to delay a minute longer at the 
summit of the peak. Not for two hours would 
day yield to night, and that time would be long 
enough for them to reach the foot of the range. 

“It would be very strange,’’ Fritz remarked, 
“if we could not find some cave large enough 
to shelter us all.” 

“Besides,” Frank answered, “we shall be 
lying under the trees—under the trees of New 
Switzerland!—New Switzerland! ’ 9 
He could not refrain from saying the dear 
name over and over again, the name that was 
blessed by all. 


BY WELL-KNOWN WAYS 157 

ii Speak it again, Dolly dear ! ” he exclaimed. 

Say it again, that I may hear it once more. ’ ’ 

“New Switzerland!” laughed the girl, her 
eyes shining with happiness. 

“New Switzerland!” Jenny repeated, hold¬ 
ing Fritz’s hand in her own. 

And there was not one of them, not even 
Bob, who did not echo it. 

“Well, good people,” said Captain Harry 
Gould, “if we have made up our minds to go 
down to the foot of the mountain we have no 
time to lose.” 

“What about eating?” John Block en¬ 
quired. “And how are we to get food on the 
way?” 

“In forty-eight hours we shall be at Rock 
Castle,” Frank declared. 

“Besides,” Fritz said, “isn’t there any 
quantity of game on the plains of New Swit¬ 
zerland?” 

“And how are you going to hunt it without 
guns?” Captain Gould enquired. “Clever as 
Fritz and Frank are, I hardly imagine that 
merely by pointing a stick-” 

‘‘ Pooh! ’ ’ Fritz answered. ‘ ‘ Haven’t we got 
legs? You’ll see, captain! Before mid-day 
to-morrow we shall have real meat instead of 
that turtle stuff.” 

“We must not abuse the turtles, Fritz,” said 
Jenny, “if only out of gratitude.” 

“You are quite right, wife, but let us be off! 


158 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 

Bob doesn’t want to stay here any longer; do 
you, Bob?” 

“No, no,” the child replied; “not if papa 
and mama are coming too. ’ 9 

“And to think,” said the boatswain slily, “to 
think that down there, in the south, we have got 
a beautiful beach where turtles and mussels 
swarm—and a beautiful cave where there are 
provisions for several weeks—and in that cave 
a beautiful bed of sea-weed—and we are going 
to leave all that for-” 

“We will come back for our treasures by 
and by!” Fritz promised. 

“But still-” John Block persisted. 

“Oh, shut up, you wretched fellow!” Cap¬ 
tain Gould ordered, laughing. 

“I’ll shut up, captain; there are only two 
words more I should like to say.” 

“What are they?” 

“Cut away!” 

As usual, Fritz took the lead. They de¬ 
scended the cone without any difficulty, and 
reached the foot of the range. Some happy in¬ 
stinct, a genuine sense of direction, had led 
them to take the same path as Mr. Wolston, 
Ernest, and Jack had taken, and it was barely 
eight o’clock when they reached the edge of the 
vast pine-forest. 

And by a no less happy chance—there 
seemed nothing surprising in it, for they had 
entered upon the season of happy chances—* 




BY WELL-KNOWN WAYS 


159 


the boatswain found the cave in which Mr. 
Wolston and the two brothers had taken shel¬ 
ter. It was rather small, but large enough for 
Jenny and Dolly and Susan and little Bob. 
The men could sleep in the open air. They 
could tell, from the white ashes of a fire, that 
the cave had been occupied before. 

Perhaps all the members of the two families 
had crossed this forest and climbed the peak 
on which the British flag was waving! 

After supper, when Bob had fallen asleep in 
a corner of the cave, they talked long, notwith¬ 
standing all the fatigue of the day, and the 
talk turned upon the Flag . 

During the week that they had been held 
prisoners, the ship must have sailed north¬ 
wards. The only explanation of that could be 
the persistence of contrary winds, for it was 
manifestly to the interest of Bobert Borupt 
and the crew to reach the far waters of the 
Pacific. If they had not done so it was because 
the weather had prevented them. 

Everything now went to show that the Flag 
had been driven towards the Indian Ocean, into 
the proximity of New Switzerland. Beckon¬ 
ing the time that had passed, and the course 
that had been followed, since the boat had been 
cast adrift, the incontestable conclusion fol¬ 
lowed that on that day Harry Gould and his 
companions could not have been much more 
than a couple of hundred miles from the de- 


160 THE CASTAWAYS OP THE FLAG 


sired island, though they had imagined them¬ 
selves separated from it by a thousand or more. 

The boat had touched land on the southern 
coast, which Fritz and Frank did not know at 
all, the other side of the mountain range which 
they had seen for the first time when they came 
out into the Green Valley. Who could have 
dreamed that there could be such an amazing 
difference in the nature of the soil and its 
products between the rich country to the north 
of the range and the arid plateau which ex¬ 
tended from the peak to the sea ? 

Now they could understand the arrival of 
the albatross on the other side of the cliff. 
After Jenny Montrose’s departure the bird 
had probably returned to Burning Rock, 
whence it flew sometimes to the shore of New 
Switzerland, though it had never gone either 
to Falconhurst or Rock Castle. 

What a big part the faithful bird had played 
in their salvation! It was to him that they 
owed the discovery of that second cavern into 
which little Bob had followed him, and, as a 
consequence, the finding of the passage which 
came out on the top of the cliff. 

The conversation lasted far into the night. 
But at last fatigue overcame them, and they 
slept. But at early dawn they took some food 
and set out again in high spirits. 

Besides the traces of a fire in the cave, the 
little band encountered other signs in the for- 


BY WELL-KNOWN WAYS 


161 


est and the open country. The trampled grass 
and broken branches were caused by the con¬ 
stant movement of animals, ruminants or 
beasts of prey, but it was impossible to be un¬ 
der any misapprehension when they came upon 
the traces of encampments. 

‘ 4 Besides,” Fritz pointed out, “who but our 
own people could have planted the flag on the 
summit of that peak?” 

“Unless it went and planted itself there!” 
the boatswain replied with a laugh. 

“Which would not be a surprising thing for 
an English flag to do!” Fritz replied cheer¬ 
fully. “There are quite a lot of places where 
it would seem to have grown by itself!” 

Led by Fritz, the party descended the first 
slopes of the range, which were partly covered 
by the forest. 

Great obstacles to overcome or serious risks 
to be incurred seemed unlikely on the way from 
the range to the Promised Land. 

The distance between the two points might 
be estimated at twenty miles. If they did ten 
miles a day, with a halt for two hours at mid¬ 
day, and slept one night on the way, they could 
reach the defile of Cluse in the evening of the 
following day. 

From the defile to Rock Castle or to Falcon- 
hurst would be a matter of a few hours only. 

“Ah,” said Frank, “if we only had our two 
good buffaloes, Storm and Grumbler, or 


162 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


Fritz’s onager, or Whirlwind, Jack’s ostrich, 
it would only take us one day to get to Rock 
Castle!” 

“I am sure that Frank forgot to post the 
letter we wrote, asking them to send the ani¬ 
mals to us,” Jenny answered merrily. 

“What, Frank, did you forget?” asked 
Fritz. “A thoughtful, attentive fellow like 
you?” 

“No,” said Frank, “it was Jenny who for¬ 
got to tie a note to her albatross’s leg before he 
flew off.” 

“How thoughtless of me!” the young woman 
exclaimed. 

“ But it is not certain that the postman 
would have taken the letter to the right 
address,” Dolly said. 

“Who knows?” Frank replied. “Every¬ 
thing that is happening now is so extraor¬ 
dinary.” 

“Well,” said Captain Gould, “since we 
can’t count upon Storm or Grumbler or Whirl¬ 
wind or the onager, the best thing we can do is 
to trust to our own legs.” 

“And to step lively,” John Block added. 

They started with the firm intention only to 
halt at mid-day. From time to time James 
and Frank and the boatswain carried Bob, 
although the child wanted to walk. So they 
lost no time crossing the forest. 

James and Susan Wolston, who knew noth- 


BY WELL-KNOWN WAYS 


163 


ing of the marvels of New Switzerland, were 
filled with constant admiration of the luxu¬ 
riant vegetation, which is far finer than that of 
Cape Colony. 

And yet they were only in the part of the 
island which was left to itself, and had never 
been touched by the hand of man! What 
would it be like when they came to the culti¬ 
vated portion of the district, to the farms at 
Eberfurt, Sugar-cane Grove, Wood Grange, 
and Prospect Hill, the rich territory of the 
Promised Land ? 

Game abounded everywhere—agoutis, pec¬ 
caries, cavies, antelopes, and rabbits, besides 
bustards, partridges, grouse, hazel-hens, gui¬ 
nea fowls, and ducks. Fritz and Frank had 
good reason to regret not having their sporting 
guns with them. The cavies and peccaries and 
agoutis would not let anyone come near them, 
and it seemed likely that they would be re¬ 
duced to finishing what was left of their provi¬ 
sions for their next meal. 

But then the question of food was resolved 
by a stroke of luck. 

About eleven o’clock, Fritz, walking in 
front, made a sign for everyone to stop at the 
edge of a little clearing crossed by a narrow 
stream, on the bank of which an animal was 
quenching its thirst. 

It was an antelope, and it meant wholesome 


164 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


and refreshing meat if only they could contrive 
to capture it somehow! 

The simplest plan seemed to be to make a 
ring around the clearing* without allowing 
themselves to be seen, and directly the ante¬ 
lope attempted to break out, to stop its way, 
regardless of danger from its horns, over¬ 
power, and kill it. 

The difficulty was to carry through this op¬ 
eration without alarming an animal whose 
sight is so keen, hearing so sharp, and scent so 
delicate. 

While Jenny and Susan and Dolly and Bob 
halted behind a bush, Fritz, Frank, James, 
Captain Gould, and the boatswain, armed only 
with their pocket knives, began to work round 
the clearing, keeping well under cover in the 
thickets. 

The antelope went on drinking at the stream, 
showing no signs of uneasiness, until Fritz got 
up sharply and uttered a loud shout. 

At once the animal sprang up, stretched out 
its neck, and jumped towards the brake, which 
it could have cleared in a single leap. 

It made for the side where Frank and John 
Block were standing, each with knife in hand. 

The beast sprang, but took off badly, fell 
back, bowled the boatswain over, and struggled 
to rise. 

Then up came Fritz, and throwing himself 
upon the animal, succeeded in driving his knife 


BY WELL-KNOWN WAYS 


165 


into its flank. But this one blow would not 
have been sufficient if Captain Gould had not 
succeeded in cutting its throat. 

The animal lay motionless among the 
branches, and the boatswain got up nimbly. 

‘ ‘ Confounded brute!’ 9 exclaimed J ohn 
Block, who had escaped with a few bruises. 
“I’ve shipped more than one heavy sea in my 
time, but never been bowled over like that!” 

“I hope you are not much hurt, Block?” j 
Captain Gould asked. 

“No: only scratched, and that don’t matter, 
captain. What annoys me is to have been 
turned upside down like that.” 

“Well, to make up for it we will keep the 
best bit for you,” Jenny answered. 

“No, Mrs. Fritz, no! no! I would rather have 
the bit that pitched me on to the ground. That 
was its head. I want that animal’s head! ’ ’ 

They set to work to cut up the antelope and 
take out the edible parts. Since they were now 
assured of food to last them until the evening 
of the following day, there would be no need 
for them to trouble further about it before they 
got to the defile of Cluse. 

Fritz and Frank were no novices where the 
preparation of game was concerned. Had they 
not studied it in theory and in practice in 
twelve years’ hunting among the grass-lands 
and woods of the Promised Land? Nor was 
the boatswain clumsy over the job. He seemed 


166 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


to derive real revengeful pleasure in skinning 
the animal. Within a quarter of an hour the 
haunches, cutlets, and other savoury portions 
were ready to be grilled over the embers. 

As it was nearly noon, it seemed best to camp 
in the clearing, where the stream would fur¬ 
nish clear, fresh water. Captain Gould and 
James lighted a wood fire at the foot of a man¬ 
grove. Then Fritz placed the best bits of the 
antelope over the glowing embers and left 
Susan and Dolly to superintend the cooking. 

By a lucky chance Jenny had just found a 
quantity of roots such as can be roasted in the 
ashes. They were of a kind to satisfy hungry 
stomachs, and would agreeably complete the 
bill of fare for luncheon. 

Ho flesh is more delicate than that of the 
antelope, which is both fragrant and tender, 
and everybody agreed that this was a real treat. 

“How good ibis,” John Block exclaimed, 
“to eat real meat which has walked in its life¬ 
time, and not crawled clumsily over the 
ground!” 

“We won’t cry down turtles,” Captain 
Gould replied; “not even to sing the praises 
of antelope.” 

4 4 The captain is right,’ ’ said Jenny. 44 With¬ 
out those excellent creatures, which have fed 
us ever since we got to the island, what would 
have become of us ?” 


BY WELL-KNOWN WAYS 167 

“Then here’s luck to turtles!” cried the 
boatswain. “But give me another chop.” 

When this refreshing meal was finished, they 
set out once more. They had no time to lose if 
the afternoon stage was to complete the ten 
miles planned for the day. 

If Fritz and Frank had been alone, they 
would have paid no heed to fatigue. They 
would have marched all night and made but a 
single stage of the whole journey to the defile. 
They may have had the idea now, and it was 
certainly very tempting, for they could have 
got to Rock Castle in the afternoon of the fol¬ 
lowing day. But they did not venture to sug¬ 
gest going on ahead. 

Besides, think of the happiness of all arriv¬ 
ing together at their much-desired goal, to 
throw themselves into the arms of the rela¬ 
tions and friends who had been waiting so long 
for them, who might have lost all hope of ever 
seeing them again! 

The second stage was done under the same 
conditions as the first, in order to husband the 
strength of Jenny and Dolly and Susan Wol- 
ston. 

No incident occurred, and about four o’clock 
in the afternoon the edge of the forest was 
reached. 

A fertile champaign extended beyond. Its 
vegetation was entirely due to the productivity 
of the soil, verdant grass-lands and woods or 


168 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


clumps of trees studding the country right up 
to the entrance to the Green Valley. 

A few herds of stags and deer passed in the 
distance, but there was no question of hunting 
them. Numerous flocks of ostriches were also 
seen, reminding Fritz and Frank of their ex¬ 
pedition to the country near the Arabian 
^Watch-tower. 

Several elephants appeared as well. They 
moved quietly through the thick woods, and 
one could imagine the longing eyes with which 
Jack would have regarded them if he had been 
there! 

44 While we have been away,” Fritz said, 
4 4 Jack may have succeeded in capturing an 
elephant, and taming and training it, as we did 
Storm and Grumbler and Lightfoot!” 

< 4 It’s quite possible, dear,” Jenny answered. 

44 After fourteen months’ absence we must ex¬ 
pect to find something new in New Switzer¬ 
land.” 

44 Our second fatherland!” Frank said. 

44 I am already picturing other houses 
there,” Dolly exclaimed, 44 and other farms— 
perhaps a village even!” 

44 Well,” said the boatswain, 44 I could be 
quite content with what we see about us; and I 
can’t imagine anything better in your island 
than we have here.” 

4 4 It is nothing compared with the Promised 
Land, Mr. Block,” Dolly declared. 


BY WELL-KNOWN WAYS 169 

“Nothing,” Jenny agreed. “M. Zermatt 
gave it that Bible name because it deserved it, 
and we, more blest than the children of Israel, 
are about to set foot in the land of Canaan.” 

And John Block admitted they were right. 

At six o’clock they stopped for the night. 

There was little likelihood of change in the 
weather at this season, and the cold was not 
formidable. Indeed, they had suffered rather 
from heat during the day, in spite of the fact 
that they were in the shelter of the trees dur¬ 
ing the hottest hours. After that, a few iso¬ 
lated woods and copses had enabled them to 
walk in the shade without wandering too far 
from the direct route. 

Supper was prepared, as the earlier meal 
had been, before a crackling fire of dry wood. 
This night would not be spent within a cave, 
but, with fatigue to rock them, not one of them 
lay awake. 

As a matter of precaution, however, Fritz 
and Frank and the boatswain decided to keep 
alternate watch. When darkness fell, roaring 
could be heard in the far distance. There were 
wild beasts in this part of the island. 

Next morning a start was made at daybreak. 
They hoped to get through the defile of Cluse in 
the second stage of the journey, if they met 
with no obstacles on the way. 

There were no more hardships about the 
march to-day than there had been the day be- 


170 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


fore. They went from wood to wood, so to 
speak, avoiding as much as possible the rays 
of the sun. 

After the mid-day meal, taken by the side of 
a fast-running river twenty to thirty yards in 
width, flowing towards the north, they merely 
had to go along the left hank. 

Neither Fritz nor Frank knew this river, 
since their expeditions had never brought them 
into the heart of the island. They had no idea 
that it had already received a name, that it 
was called the Montrose, as they had no knowl¬ 
edge of the new name of Jean Zermatt peak, 
on whose summit the British flag was floating. 
What a pleasure it would be to Jenny to learn 
that this river bore the name of her family! 

After marching for an hour they left the 
Montrose, which bore off sharply to the east. 
Two hours later Fritz and Frank, who had 
taken the lead, set foot at length on country 
known to them. 

“The Green Valiev!” they shouted, and 
saluted it with a cheer. 

It was the Green Valley, and now they only 
had to get to the rampart enclosing the Prom¬ 
ised Land to be at the defile of Cluse. 

This time, no consideration, no hunger or 
fatigue, could have availed to hold back any of 
them. Following Fritz and Frank, they all 
hurried forward, although the path was steep. 
They seemed to be impelled forcibly towards 


BY WELL-KNOWN WAYS 171 

the goal which they had despaired of ever at¬ 
taining ! 

Oh, if only by some extraordinary good luck 
M. Zermatt and Mr. Wolston might be at the 
hermitage at Eberfurt, and their families with 
them, as the custom was during the summer 
season! 

But that would have been too good to be 
true, as people say. Not even John Block 
dared to hope for it. 

The beams across the entrance were all in 
place, fixed firmly between interstices among 
the rocks so as to resist the efforts of even the 
most powerful animals. 

‘ 4 That is our door!” Fritz cried. 

“ Yes, ” said Jenny, ‘ 4 the door into the Prom¬ 
ised Land where all our dear ones live!” 

They only had to remove one of the beams, 
a task which took but a few minutes. 

And then at last they were through the defile, 
and all had the feeling that they were entering 
their own home—home, which, only three days 
ago, they had supposed to be hundreds and 
hundreds of miles away! 

Fritz and Frank and John Block replaced 
the beam in its proper grooves so as to bar 
the way against wild beasts and pachyderms. 

About half-past seven night was falling with 
the suddenness peculiar to the tropics when 
Fritz and his companions reached the hermit¬ 
age at Eberfurt. 


172 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


Nobody was at the farm, and, although they 
regretted this, there was no occasion for them 
to be surprised. 

The little villa was in perfect order. They 
opened all the doors and windows, and pro¬ 
ceeded to make themselves comfortable for the 
ten hours or so they would stay. 

In accordance with M. Zermatt’s practice, 
the house was quite ready for the reception of 
the two families, who visited it several times 
in the course of the year. The bedsteads were 
given to Jenny and Dolly, Susan and little 
Bob, and to Captain Gould. Dry grass spread 
on the floor of the out-house would be good 
enough for the others this last night before 
their return home. 

Moreover, Eberfurt was always provided 
with stores to last a week. 

So Jenny only had the trouble of opening 
large wicker hampers, to find preserves of 
various kinds, sago, cassava, or tapioca flour, 
and salted meat and fish. As for fruit—figs, 
mangoes, bananas, pears and apples—they only 
had to take a step to pick them from the trees, 
and only another to gather vegetables in the 
kitchen garden. 

Of course the kitchen and larder were prop¬ 
erly equipped with all necessary utensils. Di¬ 
rectly a good wood fire was crackling in the 
stove, the pot was set upon its tripod. Water 
was drawn from an off-shoot from the Eastern 


BY WELL-KNOWN WAYS 


173 


Biver, which supplied the reservoir belonging 
to the farm. And it was with special pleasure 
that Fritz and Frank were able to offer their 
guests glasses of palm wine drawn from the 
barrels in the cellar. 

“Ah-ha!” cried the boatswain. “We’ve been 
teetotallers a very long time.” 

“Well, we will pledge you now, good old 
Block! ’ ’ Fritz exclaimed. 

“As much as you like,” the boatswain an¬ 
swered. “Nothing could be more pleasant 
than drinking one another’s health in this ex¬ 
cellent wine.” 

“Let us drink then,” said Frank, “to the 
happiness of seeing our parents and our 
friends again at Falconhurst or Bock Castle!” 

And, clinking glasses, they gave three cheers 
for the Zermatts and the Wolstons. 

“Seriously,” John Block remarked, “there 
are plenty of inns in England and elsewhere 
which aren’t nearly so good as this hermitage f 
of Eberfurt.” 

“Moreover, Block,” Fritz answered, “here 
the entertainment is free!” 

When supper was finished all sought the re¬ 
pose of which they had such need after their 
long day’s march. 

Every one of them slept until the sun rose 
next morning. 


CHAPTER XII 

ENEMIES IN THE PROMISED LAND 

A T seven o’clock next morning, after 
breakfasting off the remains of supper 
and drinking a stirrup-cup of palm 
wine, Fritz and his companions left the 
hermitage at Eberfurt. 

They were all in haste, and intended to cover 
the seven and a half miles that lay between the 
farm and Falconhurst in less than three hours. 

“It is possible that our people may be settled 
now in their dwelling in the air,” Fritz re¬ 
marked. 

“If so, dear,” said Jenny, “we shall have 
the joy of meeting them quite an hour sooner.” 

“Provided they have not gone into summer 
quarters on Prospect Hill,” Frank observed. 
“In that case we should be obliged to go back 
to False Hope Point.” 

“Isn’t that the cape from which M. Zer¬ 
matt must watch for the Unicorn ?” Captain 
Gould enquired. 

“That is the one, captain,” Fritz replied; 
“and as the corvette must have completed her 

174 


ENEMIES IN THE PROMISED LAND 175 

repairs, it will not be long before she reaches 
the island.” 

“However that may be,” the boatswain re¬ 
marked, 4 4 the best thing we can do, in my 
opinion, is to start. If there is nobody at Fai- 
conhurst we will go to Rock Castle, and if 
there is nobody at Rock Castle we will go to 
Prospect Hill, or anywhere else. But let us get 
on the march!” 

Although there w T as no lack of kitchen uten¬ 
sils and gardening tools at the hermitage, 
Fritz had looked in vain for any sporting guns 
and ammunition. When his father and 
brothers came to the farm they brought their 
guns, but never left them there. However, 
there was nothing to be afraid of in crossing 
the Promised Land, since no wild beasts could 
get through the defile of Cluse. 

A cart road—and how often already had it 
been rolled by the waggon which the buffaloes 
and the onager drew!—ran between the culti¬ 
vated fields, now in their full vegetation, and 
the woods in their full verdure. The sight of 
all this prosperity gladdened the eye. Captain 
Gould and the boatswain, and James and 
Susan Wolston, who saw this district for the 
first time, were amazed. Most certainly might 
colonists come here; it could support hun¬ 
dreds, the island as a whole could thousands! 

After marching for an hour and a half, 
Fritz stopped for a few moments, nearly mid- 


176 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


way between the hermitage of Eberfurt and 
Falconhurst, before a stream which he did 
not know existed in this part of the district. 

“That is something new,” he said. 

“It certainly is,” Jenny answered. “I do 
not remember any stream in this place.” 

“It is more like a canal,” Captain Gould 
remarked. 

“You are right, captain,” said Fritz. “Mr. 
Wolston must have conceived the idea of 
drawing water from Jackal River to supply 
Swan Lake and keep it full during the hot 
weather, which would enable them to irrigate 
the land round Wood Grange.” 

“Yes,” Frank went on, “it must have been 
your father, Dolly, who had that notion and 
carried it out.” 

“Oh!” said Dolly. “But I expect your 
brother Ernest had a finger in the pie!” 

“Ho doubt—our learned Ernest!” Fritz 
agreed. 

“And why not the intrepid Jack—and M. 
Zermatt too?” Captain Gould enquired. 

“Everybody, then,” said Jenny, laughing. 

“Yes, every one of both the families, which 
now are really one,” Fritz answered. 

The boatswain broke in, as was his way, with 
a very just remark: 

“If those who cut this canal did well, those 
who threw a bridge across it deserve quite as 


ENEMIES IN THE PROMISED LAND 177 


much praise. So let us go over and march 
on!” 

They crossed the bridge and entered into 
the more thickly wooded district, where rose 
the little stream that ran out near Falcon- 
hurst, just below Whale Island. 

Fritz and Frank listened intently, trying to 
catch some distant sound of barking or of 
guns. What was Jack, the enthusiastic sports¬ 
man, about, that he was not hunting this fine 
morning? Game was rising in every direc¬ 
tion, scampering away through the brakes and 
scattering from tree to tree. If the two 
brothers had had guns, they could have let fly 
with both barrels over and over again. It 
seemed to them that fur and feather had never 
been more plentiful in the district, so plentiful 
that their companions were genuinely aston¬ 
ished by it. 

But, besides the twittering of little birds, the 
call of partridges and bustards, the chattering 
of parrots and sometimes the howling of 
jackals were all that could be heard, and to 
these sounds was never added the report of 
fire-arms or the whimper of a dog on the scent. 

After crossing the Falconhurst river they 
only had to go up the right bank as far as the 
edge of the wood, where grew the gigantic 
mangrove tree with the aerial dwelling-place. 

A profound silence reigned underneath 
these immense trees—a silence which awak- 


178 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


ened vague uneasiness. When Fritz looked 
at Jenny he read in her eyes an anxiety for 
which, however, there was no justification as 
yet. Frank, too, felt some nervousness, walk¬ 
ing on in front and then retracing his steps. 
This uneasiness was shared by all. In ten 
minutes they would be at Falconhurst. Ten 
minutes! Was not that much the same as be¬ 
ing there already? 

“It’s a sure thing,” said the boatswain, who 
wanted to cheer them up, “it’s a sure thing 
that we shall have to go down this fine avenue 
of yours to Rock Castle! A delay of an hour, 
that’s all. And what’s an hour, after so long 
an absence?” 

They put on pace. A few moments later' 
they came within sight of the edge of the wood, 
and then of the enormous mangrove tree in 
the middle of the court-yard, enclosed by pali¬ 
sades fringed with a quickset hedge. 

Fritz and Frank ran to the gate contrived 
in the hedge. 

The gate was open, and had been torn half 
off its hinges. 

The two brothers went into the court-yard 
and stopped beside the little central basin. 

The place was deserted. 

Not a sound came from the poultry run or 
the sheds built against the palisade, although 
these were generally full of cows and sheep 
and poultry during the summer season. In 


ENEMIES IN THE PROMISED LAND 179 

the out-houses were various things, boxes and 
hampers and agricultural implements, all in 
a disorder very foreign to the careful habits 
of Mme. Zermatt and Mrs. Wolston and her 
daughter. 

Prank ran to the cattle-sheds. 

There was nothing in them but a few arm¬ 
fuls of hay in the racks. 

Did it mean that the animals had broken out 
of the enclosure? Were they straying loose 
about the country? No; for not one had been 
seen anywhere near Falconhurst. It was just 
possible that, for some reason or other, they 
had been penned in the other farms, and yet 
that was hardly an explanation. 

As has been said, the farmstead of Falcon- 
hurst comprised two dwelling-places, one built 
among the branches of the mangrove tree, the 
other among the roots which were buttressed 
round its base. Above the latter was a ter¬ 
race with a railing of bamboo canes, which 
supported the roof of tarred moss. This ter¬ 
race covered several rooms, divided by par¬ 
titions fixed among the roots, and large enough 
for both families to inhabit them together. 

This first dwelling was as silent as the out¬ 
buildings in the yard. 

“Let us go inside!” said Fritz, with trouble 
in his voice. 

All followed him, and a cry broke from 


180 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


them—an inarticulate cry, for not one of them 
could have uttered a word. 

The furniture was upset. The chairs and 
tables had been thrown down, the chests 
opened, the bedding thrown on the floor, the 
utensils into the corners. It was as if the 
rooms had been given over to pillage for the 
mere sake of pillage. Of the stores of pro¬ 
visions, generally kept fully supplied at Fal- 
conhurst, not a scrap remained. There was 
no hay in the loft; in the cellar the casks of 
wine and beer and spirits were empty. There 
were no weapons, except one loaded pistol 
which the boatswain picked up and thrust in 
his belt. Yet carbines and guns were always 
left at Faleonhurst during the hunting season. 

Fritz, Frank, and Jenny stood overwhelmed 
before this most unexpected disaster. Were 
things in the same state at Eock Castle and 
Wood Grange, and Sugar-cane Grove and 
Prospect Hill? Of all the farms, had the 
hermitage of Eberfurt alone been spared by 
these pillagers ? And who were the pillagers ? 

“My friends,” said Captain Gould, “some 
disaster has happened; but it may not be as 
serious as you fear.” 

Ho one answered. What answer could Fritz 
or Frank or Jenny have given? Their hearts 
seemed broken. They had set foot within the 
Promised Land with so much joy, only to find 
ruin and desolation! 


ENEMIES IN THE PROMISED LAND 181 


But what had happened ? Had New Switzer¬ 
land been invaded by a band of those pirates 
who were so numerous at that period in the 
Indian Ocean, where the Andamans and Nico- 
bars offered them a safe place of refuge ? Had 
the Zermatts and Wolstons been able to leave 
Bock Castle in time, and retire elsewhere, or 
even flee from the island? Had they fallen 
into the hands of the pirates—or had they lost 
their lives in an attempt at self-defence ? 

And, one last question, had all this happened 
a few months ago, or a few weeks ago, or a 
few days ago, and would it have been possible 
to prevent it if the Unicorn had arrived within 
the time arranged ? 

Jenny made a brave effort to keep back her 
tears, while Susan and Dolly sobbed together. 
Frank wanted to rush to find his father and 
mother and brothers, and Fritz was obliged 
to hold him back. Captain Gould and the 
boatswain went out several times to examine 
the ground near the palisade, but came back 
without having found anything to throw light 
on the matter. 

Some decision, however, had to be arrived 
at. Was it better to remain at Falconhurst 
and await events there, or to go down to Rock 
Castle ignorant of how matters stood ? Should 
they make a reconnaissance, leaving the 
women and Bob in James’s protection, while 
Fritz, Frank, and Captain Gould, and John 


182 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


Block went to investigate either along the 
shore or across country? 

In any case they had to dispel this uncer¬ 
tainty, even though the truth should leave 
them without hope! 

Fritz was voicing the general wish when he 
said: 

“Let us try to get to Hock Castle.’’ 

“And let us go at once!” Frank exclaimed. 

“I will come with you,” said Captain Gould. 

“And so will I,” said John Block. 

“Good!” Fritz replied. “But James must 
stay with Jenny, Dolly, and Susan, who will 
be out of harm’s way at the top of Falcon- 
hurst.” 

“Let us all go up first,” John Block sug¬ 
gested, “and from there, perhaps, we shall 


It was only reasonable to do that before go¬ 
ing to reconnoitre outside. From the aerial 
dwelling-place, and especially from the top of 
the mangrove tree, the view extended over 
much of the Promised Land and the sea to 
the east, and also over nearly eight miles of 
coast between Deliverance Bay and False 
Hope Point. 

“Up! Up!” Fritz answered, to the boat¬ 
swain’s suggestion. 

The habitation among the branches of the 
tree had escaped the general devastation, 
thanks to the dense foliage of the mangrove, 



ENEMIES IN THE PROMISED LAND 183 


which almost concealed it from view. The 
door giving access to the winding staircase in¬ 
side the trunk bore no marks of violence. 
Frank found it shut, and wrenched at it so 
that the lock-bolt came away. 

In a few moments they had all climbed up 
the staircase, lighted by narrow loopholes in 
the tree, and set foot on the circular balcony, 
which was almost completely screened behind 
a curtain of leaves. 

The instant Fritz and Frank reached the 
platform they hurried into the first room. 

Neither this room nor the rooms next it pre¬ 
sented the least sign of disturbance. The bed¬ 
ding was all in good condition, the furniture 
all in place. So it was obvious that the origi¬ 
nal Falcon’s nest had been respected. The 
marauders could not have found the door be¬ 
low. The foliage had become so very much 
thicker in the course of these twelve years 
that it would have been as impossible to see the 
dwelling from the yard below as it was from 
the edge of the neighbouring wood. 

It really looked as if Mme. Zermatt and 
Mrs. Wolston had set everything in order only 
the day before. There were preserved meat, 
flour, rice, preserves, and liquor, enough of 
everything to last for a week, in accordance 
with the usual custom observed at Falconhurst 
as at the other farms. 

Nobody now, of course, gave a thought to 


184 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


the question of food. What occupied their 
minds to the exclusion of all else, filling them 
with despair, was the deserted condition of 
Falconhurst in the height of the summer, and 
the pillage of the lower dwelling. 

Directly they returned to the balcony Fritz 
and the boatswain clambered up to the top of 
the mangrove tree, to get as wide a view as 
possible. 

To north ran the line of coast bounded by 
False Hope Point at the little hill where the 
villa of Prospect Hill stood. Nothing sus¬ 
picious could be detected in this part of the 
district. 

To west, beyond the canal connecting Jackal 
River with Swan Lake, spread the country 
watered by the little Falconhurst river, 
through which Fritz and his companions had 
walked after they had crossed the bridge. This 
was as deserted as the country which ran still 
further to the west as far as the defile of Cluse. 

To east, the vast arm of the sea spread out 
between False Hope Point and Cape East, be¬ 
hind which lay Unicorn Bay. There was not a 
sail to be seen at sea, not a boat along the shore. 
Nothing was visible but the vast plain of water, 
from which, to north-east, projected, the reef 
upon which the Landlord had struck long ago. 

Turning towards the south, the eye could 
only see, about two miles and a half away, the 
entrance into Deliverance Bay, near the wall 


ENEMIES IN THE PROMISED LAND 185 


of rock which sheltered the dwelling of Rock 
Castle. 

Of that house, and its annexes, nothing was 
visible except the green tops of the trees in the 
kitchen garden, and, a little more to south¬ 
west, a line of light which indicated the course 
of Jackal River. 

Fritz and John Block came down to the bal¬ 
cony again, after spending some ten minutes in 
the first examination. Making use of the tele¬ 
scope which M. Zermatt always kept at Falcon- 
hurst, they had looked carefully in the direc¬ 
tion of Rock Castle and the shore. 

No one was to be seen there. It seemed that 
the two families could not be on the island now. 

But it was possible that M. Zermatt and his 
people had been led by the marauders to some 
farmstead in the Promised Land, or even to 
some other part of New Switzerland. 

To this suggestion, however, Captain Gould 
raised an objection which it was difficult to 
meet. 

44 These marauders, whoever they may be,” 
he said, 44 must have come by sea: must even 
have landed in Deliverance Bay. Now we have 
observed none of their boats. The conclusion 
would seem to be that they have gone away 
again—perhaps taking ” 

He stopped. No one ventured to make an¬ 
swer. 

Certainly Rock Castle did not seem to be in- 


186 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


habited now. From the top of the tree no 
smoke could be seen rising above the fruit trees 
in the kitchen garden. 

Captain Gould then suggested that the two 
families might have left New Switzerland vol¬ 
untarily, since the Unicorn had not arrived at 
the appointed time. 

“How could they have gone?” Fritz asked, 
who would have been glad to have this hope to 
cling to. 

“Aboard some ship that came to these 
waters,” Captain Gould replied; “one of the 
ships which must have been sent from England 
or perhaps another vessel which arrived off the 
island in the ordinary chances of navigation.” 

This theory was possible. And yet there 
were many grave reasons to suppose that the 
desertion of New Switzerland was not due to 
any such circumstance. 

Fritz spoke again. 

“We must not hesitate any longer. Let us 
go and look!” 

“Yes, let us go!” said Frank. 

Fritz was just preparing to go down again 
when Jenny stopped him. 

“Smoke!” she said. “I think I can see 
smoke rising above Rock Castle.” 

Fritz seized the telescope and turned it to¬ 
wards the south; for more than a minute his 
eye stayed glued to the instrument. 

Jenny was right. Smoke was passing across 


ENEMIES IN THE PROMISED LAND 187 


the curtain of green, above the rocks which 
enclosed Rock Castle to the rear. 

“They are there! They are there!” cried 
Frank. “And we ought to have been with 
them already!” 

This assertion nobody denied. They all had 
such dire need to recover hope that everything 
was forgotten, the solitude that lay round Fal- 
conhurst, the pillage of the yard, the absence of 
the domestic animals, the empty sheds, the ruin 
of the rooms at the foot of the mangrove tree. 

But cold reason came back, to Captain Gould 
and John Block at least. Manifestly Rock 
Castle was occupied at this moment—the 
smoke proved that. But might it not be occu¬ 
pied by the marauders ? At any rate, it would 
be necessary to approach it with the utmost 
caution. Perhaps it would be best not to go 
along the avenue which led to Jackal River. 
If they went across fields, and, as much as pos¬ 
sible, from wood to wood, they might have a 
chance of getting to the drawbridge without 
being sighted. 

At last, as all were getting ready to leave the 
aerial dwelling, Jenny lowered the telescope, 
with which she had been scanning the coast of 
the bay. 

“And the proof that both families are still 
here,” she said, “is that the flag is flying over 
Shark’s Island.” 

The white and red flag, the colours of New 


188 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


Switzerland, was indeed waving over the 
battery. 

But did that make it absolutely certain that 
M. Zermatt and Mr. Wolston, and their wives 
and children, had not left the island ? Did not 
the flag always float at that spot ? 

They would not argue the point. Everything 
would be explained at Rock Castle, and before 
an hour had passed. 

“Let us go! Let us go!” said Frank again, 
and he turned towards the staircase. 

6 ‘ Stop! Stop! ’ ’ the boatswain suddenly said, 
lowering his voice. 

They watched him crawl along the balcony, 
to the side overlooking Deliverance Bay. Then 
he moved the leaves aside, put his head through 
them and drew it back precipitately. 

“What is the matter ?” Fritz asked. 

“Savages !” John Block replied. 


CHAPTER XIII 
shark’s island 

I T was now half-past two in the afternoon. 
The foliage of the mangrove was so dense 
that the rays of the sun, though almost 
vertical, could not penetrate it. Thus Fritz 
and his companions ran no risk of being de¬ 
tected in the aerial dwelling of Falconhurst, 
of the existence of which the savages who had 
landed on the island had no idea. 

Five men, half naked, with the black skins 
of natives of Western Australia, armed with 
bows and arrows, were coming along the path. 
They had no notion that they had been seen, or 
even that there were other inhabitants of the 
Promised Land besides those of Rock Castle. 

But what had become of M. Zermatt and the 
others? Had they been able to make their 
escape ? Had they fallen in unequal combat ? 

Of course, as John Block remarked, it could 
not be supposed that the number of aborigines 
who had landed on the island was limited to 
these few men. Had they been so inferior 
numerically, they could not have got the better 
of M. Zermatt and his two sons and Mr. Wol- 

189 


190 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


ston, even if they had made a surprise attack. 
It must have been a large band that had in¬ 
vaded New Switzerland, whither they must 
have come in a fleet of canoes. The fleet was 
doubtless lying at the present moment in the 
creek, with the boat and the pinnace. It could 
not be seen from the top of Falconhurst be¬ 
cause the view in that direction was cut off by 
the point of Deliverance Bay. 

And where were the Zermatts and the Wol- 
stons? What inference must be drawn from 
the fact that they had not been encountered at 
Falconhurst or thereabouts ? 

That they were prisoners at Rock Castle, 
that they had had neither time nor opportu¬ 
nity to seek refuge in the other farms—or that 
they had been massacred? 

Everything else was explained now—the 
havoc wrought at Falconhurst, and the de¬ 
serted condition in which the Promised Land 
was found between the Swan Lake canal and 
the shore. 

How could they cherish any but the faintest 
hope? So, while Captain Gould and the 
boatswain kept the natives in view, the others 
sorrowed together. 

There was one last chance. Could the two 
families have taken refuge in the westward, in 
some part of the island beyond Pearl Bay ? If 
they had caught sight of the canoes in the dis¬ 
tance, across Deliverance Bay, might they not 


SHARK’S ISLAND 


191 


have had time to make their escape in the 
waggon, taking provisions and arms? 

Captain Gould and John Block continued to 
watch the approaching savages. 

Was it their intention to come into the yard ? 
The house had been visited and pillaged by 
them already. Now they might discover the 
door at the foot of the staircase. In that event, 
however, they could easily be disposed of. For 
when they stepped out on to the platform they 
could be surprised, one by one, and hurled over 
the balustrade, a drop of forty or fifty feet. 

“ And,” as the boatswain remarked, “if after 
a tumble like that they had legs enough left to 
get to Bock Castle, the beasts would be more 
like cats than the monkeys they resemble!” 

But when they reached the end of the ave¬ 
nue, the five men stopped. The watchers did 
not miss a single movement they made. What 
was their business at Falconhurst ? If the 
aerial dwelling had escaped their observation 
so far, were they not now on the point of dis¬ 
covering it, and the people inside it? And 
then, they would come back in larger numbers, 
and how was the attack of a hundred natives 
to be withstood? 

They came to the palisade and walked all 
round it. Three of them entered the yard, and 
went into one of the out-houses on the left, 
coming out again presently with fishing tackle. 

“The rascals are a bit too familiar!” the 


192 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


boatswain murmured. “They don’t only not 
ask your leave--” 

“Can they have a canoe on the beach, and 
are they going to fish along the shore?” said 
Captain Gould. 

“We’ll soon find out, Skipper,” John Block 
replied. 

The three men returned to their companions. 
Then they went down a little path bordered 
with a stout thorn hedge, which ran along the 
right of the Falconhurst river and passed on to 
the sea. 

They were in sight until they reached the 
cutting through which the river flowed to its 
outlet into Flamingo Bay. 

But as soon as they turned to the left, they 
became invisible, and would only be seen again 
if they put out to sea. It was probable there 
was a boat upon the beach—probable, too, that 
they generally used it for fishing near Falcon¬ 
hurst. 

While Captain Gould and John Block re¬ 
mained on the watch, Jenny controlled her 
grief and asked Fritz: 

“What ought we to do, dear?” 

Fritz looked at his wife, not knowing what to 
answer. 

“We are going to decide what we ought to 
do,” Captain Gould declared. “But to begin 
with, it is idle to remain on this balcony, where 
we are in danger of being discovered.” 



SHARK’S ISLAND 


193 


When they were all together in the room, 
while Bob, who was tired by his long march, 
slept in a little closet next to it, Fritz answered 
his wife’s question: 

“No, Jenny dear—all hope is not lost of 
finding our people. It is possible that they 
were not taken by surprise. Father and Mr. 
Wolston are sure to have seen the canoes in the 
distance. They may have had time to take 
refuge in one of the farms, or even in the heart 
of the woods at Pearl Bay, where these savages 
would not have ventured. We saw no trace of 
them when we left the hermitage at Eberfurt, 
after we crossed the canal. My opinion is that 
they have not moved away from the coast.” 

“That is my opinion, too,” said Captain 
Gould, “and I believe that M. Zermatt and Mr. 
Wolston have got away with their families.” 

“Yes, I am sure of it!” said Jenny posi¬ 
tively. “Dolly, dear—Susan—don’t lose 
heart! Don’t cry any more! We shall see 
them all again!” 

The young woman spoke so stoutly that she 
brought back hope to them. Fritz shook her 
hand. 

“It is God who speaks through your lips, 
Jenny dear!” he said. 

On consideration, indeed, as Captain Gould 
insisted, it was hardly to be supposed that Rock 
Castle could have been surprised by attack¬ 
ing natives, for they could not have brought 


194 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


their canoes by night to land which they did 
not know. It must have been by daylight that 
they arrived, and some of the islanders must 
surely have seen them far enough off to have 
had time to take refuge in some other part of 
the island. 

“And then again,’* Fritz,added, “if these 
natives landed only recently, our people may 
not have been at Eock Castle at all. This is the 
season when we usually visit all the farms. 
Although we did not meet them at the hermit¬ 
age at Eberfurt last night, they may be at 
Wood Grange, or Prospect Hill, or at Sugar- 
cane Grove, in the midst of those thick woods.” 

“Let us go to Sugar-cane Grove first,” 
Frank suggested. 

“We can do that,” John Block assented; 
“but not before night.” 

“Yes, now, at once, at once!” Frank in¬ 
sisted, declining to listen to argument. “I can 
go alone. About twelve miles there, and twelve 
miles back; I shall be back in four hours, and 
we shall know what we are about.” 

“No, Frank, no!” said Fritz. “I do beg you 
not to leave us. It would be most foolish. If 
need be, I order you not to, and I am your 
elder brother.” 

“Would you stop me, Fritz ?” 

“I would deter you from doing anything 
so rash.” 

“Frank, Frank!” said Dolly entreatingly. 


SHARK’S ISLAND 


195 


‘‘Do please listen to your brother! Frank! I 
beseech you!” 

But Frank was set on his plan. 

“Very well!” said the boatswain, who 
thought it his duty to interfere. “Since a 
search is to be made, let us make it without 
waiting until night. But why should we not 
all go together to Sugar-cane Grove?” 

“Then come along!” said Frank. 

“But,” the boatswain went on, addressing 
Fritz, “is it really Sugar-cane Grove that we 
ought to make for?” 

“Where else?” Fritz asked. 

“Rock Castle!” John Block answered. 

The name, thus unexpectedly dropped into 
the discussion, altered the whole course of it. 

Rock Castle ? After all, if M. Zermatt and 
Mr. Wolston and their wives and children had 
fallen into the hands of the natives, and if their 
lives had been spared, it was there that they 
would be, for the smoke proved that Rock 
Castle was occupied. 

“Go to Rock Castle, eh?” Captain Gould 
replied. ‘ ‘ All right; but go there all together. ’ ’ 

‘ 4 All together ? No, ” said Fritz; ‘ ‘ only two 
or three of us, and after dark.” 

“After dark?” Frank began again, more set 
than ever upon his idea. “Iam going to Rock 
Castle now.” 

“And how do you expect in broad daylight 
to escape the savages who are prowling round 


196 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


about it?” Fritz replied. “And if you do es¬ 
cape them, how will you get into Rock Castle, 
if they are there at the time?” 

“I don’t know, Fritz. But I shall find out 
if our people are there, and when I have found 
out I will come back!” 

“My dear Frank,” Captain Gould said, “I 
quite understand your impatience, and I sym¬ 
pathise with it. But do give way to us in this 
matter; it is only common prudence that makes 
us think as we do. If the savages get you, the 
hunt will be up; they will come to look for us, 
and there won’t be any more safety for us, 
either at Wood Grange or anywhere else.” 

At last they succeeded in making Frank 
listen to reason. He had to bow to the author¬ 
ity of one who already perhaps was the head 
of the family. 

So it was decided that they should wait, and 
that as soon as darkness permitted Frank and 
the boatswain should leave Falconhurst. It 
was better that two should make this recon¬ 
naissance, fraught with many dangers. They 
would glide along the quickset hedge that 
bordered the avenue, and both would try to 
get to Jackal River. If the drawbridge were 
withdrawn to the other bank, they would swim 
across the river and attempt to get into the 
court-yard of Rock Castle through the orchard. 
It would be easy to see through one of the win¬ 
dows if the families were shut up inside. If 


SHARK’S ISLAND 


197 


they were not, Frank and John Block would 
come back at once to Falconhurst, and they 
would all try to get to Sugar-cane Grove before 
daylight. 

Never did the hours drag by more slowly! 
Never had Captain Gould and his companions 
been more profoundly dejected—not even 
when the boat was cast adrift upon an un¬ 
known sea, not even when it was smashed 
upon the rocks in Turtle Bay, not even when 
the shipwrecked company, with three women 
and a child amongst them, saw themselves 
threatened by winter on a desert coast, shut in 
a prison whence they could not escape! 

In the midst of all those trials they had, at 
least, been free from anxiety on account of 
those in New Switzerland! Whereas, now, 
they had found the island in the power of a 
horde of natives, and did not know what had 
become of their relatives and friends; but had 
good ground for fearing that they might all 
have perished in a massacre! 

Slowly the day wore on. Every now and 
then one or other of them, generally Fritz and 
the boatswain, climbed up among the branches 
of the mangrove in order to search the country 
and the sea. What they were most anxious to 
ascertain was whether the savages were still in 
the neighbourhood of Falconhurst, or had gone 
back to Rock Castle. 

But they could see nothing, except, towards 


198 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


the south, near the mouth of Jackal River, the 
Jlttle column of smoke rising above the rocks. 

Up to four o’clock in the afternoon nothing 
happened to change the situation. A meal 
was prepared from the stores in the house. 

When Frank and John Block came back 
they might all have to set out for Sugar-cane 
Grove, and that would be a long march. 

Suddenly a report was heard. 

‘‘ What is that ? ” Jenny exclaimed, and Fritz 
drew her back as she was hastening to one of 
the windows. 

“Could it have been a gun?” Frank asked. 

“It was a gun!” the boatswain exclaimed. 

“But who fired it?” Fritz said. 

“A ship off the island, do you think?” James 
suggested. 

“The Unicorn, perhaps!” Jenny cried. 

“Then she must be very near the island,” 
John Block remarked, “for that report was 
close at hand.” 

“Come to the balcony, come to the balcony!” 
Frank cried excitedly. 

“Let us be careful not to be seen, for the 
savages must be on the alert,” Captain Gould 
cautioned them. 

All eyes were turned towards the sea. 

Ho ship was to be seen, although, judging 
from the nearness of the report, it must have 
been off Whale Island. All that the boatswain 
could see was a single canoe, manned by two 


SHARK’S ISLAND 199 

men, which was trying to get in from the open 
sea to the beach at Falconhurst. 

“Can they be Ernest and Jack?” Jenny 
whispered. 

“No,” Fritz answered, “those two men are 
natives, and the canoe is a pirogue.” 

i ‘ But why are they running away like that ?” 
Frank asked. “Can there be someone after 
them?” 

Fritz uttered a cry—a cry of joy and sur¬ 
prise combined. 

He had just seen a bright flash in the middle 
of a white smoke, and almost simultaneously 
there was a second report which made the 
echoes ring round the coast. 

At the same time a ball, skimming the sur¬ 
face of the bay, threw up a great jet of water a 
couple of fathoms away from the canoe, which 
continued to fly at full speed towards Falcon- 
hurst. 

“There! There!” shouted Fritz. “Father 
and Mr. Wolston and all of them are there— 
on Shark’s Island!” 

It was, indeed, from that island that the 
first report had come, as well as the second 
with the ball aimed at the pirogue. No doubt 
the islanders had found refuge under the pro¬ 
tection of the battery which the savages did not 
venture to approach. Above it was the red and 
white flag of New Switzerland, while on the 


200 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


topmost peak in all the island floated the Brit¬ 
ish flag! 

Impossible to depict the joy, the delirium to 
which those so lately in despair now abandoned 
themselves! And their emotions were shared 
by those true comrades, Captain Gould and the 
boatswain. 

There was no further idea of going to Rock 
Castle; they would leave Falconhurst only to 
go—how, they did not know—to Shark’s 
Island. If only it had been possible to com¬ 
municate with it by signals from the top of the 
mangrove, to wave a flag to which the flag on 
the battery might reply! But that might have 
been unwise, unwise too, to fire a few shots 
with the pistol, for, though these might be 
heard by M. Zermatt, they might also be heard 
by the savages, if they were still prowling 
about Falconhurst. 

It was most important that they should not 
know of the presence of Captain Gould and his 
party, for these could not have withstood a 
combined attack by all the savages now in pos¬ 
session of Rock Castle. 

“Our position is a good one now,” Fritz re¬ 
marked; “don’t let us do anything to compro¬ 
mise it.” 

4 4 Quite so, ’ ’ Captain Gould replied. 4 4 Since 
we have not been discovered, don’t let us run 
any risk of it. Let us wait until night before 
we do anything.” 


SHARK’S ISLAND 


201 


“How will it be possible to get to Shark’s 
Island ¥” Jenny asked. 

“By swimming/’ Fritz declared. “Yes; I 
can swim there all right. And since father 
must have fled there in the long boat, I will 
bring back the long boat to take you all over.” 

“Fritz,—dear!” Jenny could not refrain 
from protesting. “Swim across that arm of 
the sea?” 

“Mere sport for me, dear wife, mere sport!” 
the intrepid fellow answered. 

“Perhaps the niggers’ canoe is still upon 
the beach,” John Block suggested. 

Evening drew on, and a little after seven 
o’clock it was dark, for night follows day with 
hardly any interval of twilight in these lati¬ 
tudes. 

About eight o’clock the time had come, and 
it was arranged that Fritz and Frank and the 
boatswain should go down into the yard. They 
were to satisfy themselves that the natives 
were not hanging about anywhere near, and 
then were to venture down to the shore. In 
any case, Captain Gould, James Wolston, 
Jenny, Dolly and Susan were to wait at the 
foot of the tree for a signal to join them. 

So the three crept down the staircase. They 
had not dared to light a lantern lest its light 
should betray them. 

* There was no one in the house below, nor in 
the out-houses. What had to be found out now 


202 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


was whether the men who had come during the 
day had gone back to Rock Castle, or if they 
were on the beach for which the canoe had 
made. 

Caution was still necessary. Fritz and John 
Block decided to go down to the shore by them¬ 
selves, while Frank remained on guard near 
the entrance to the yard, ready to run in if 
any danger threatened Falconhurst. 

The two men went out of the palisade and 
crossed the clearing. Then they slid from tree 
to tree for a couple of hundred yards, listening, 
and peering, until they reached the narrow 
cutting between the last rocks, against which 
the waves broke. 

The beach was deserted, and so was the sea 
as far as the cape, the outlines of which could 
just be seen in the eastward. There were no 
lights either in the direction of Rock Castle, 
or on the surface of Deliverance Bay. A single 
mass of rock loomed up a couple of miles out 
at sea. 

It was Shark’s Island. 

16 Come on,” said Fritz. 

‘ i Ay, ay,” John Block replied. 

They went down to the sandy shore, whence 
the tide was receding. 

They would have shouted for joy if they had 
dared. A canoe was there, lying on its side. 

It was the pirogue which the battery had 
greeted with a couple of shots from its guns. 


SHARK’S ISLAND 


203 


“A lucky thing that they missed it!” John 
Block exclaimed. “If they hadn’t, it would 
be at the bottom now. If it was Mr. Jack or 
Mr. Ernest who was such a bad shot, we will 
offer him our congratulations! ’ ’ 

This little boat, of native construction and 
worked by paddles, could only hold five or six 
people. Captain Gould and his party num¬ 
bered eight, and a child, to be rowed to Shark’s 
Island. True, the distance was only a bare 
two miles. 

“Well, we will pack in somehow,” John 
Block said; “we mustn’t have to make two 
trips.” 

“Besides,” Fritz added, “in another hour 
the flood tide will make itself felt, and as it 
sets towards Deliverance Bay, not very far 
from Shark’s Island, it will not be a very big 
job for us to get there.” 

“Everything is for the best,” the boatswain 
replied, “and that is beginning to become 
evident.” 

There was no question of pushing the boat 
down to the sea; it would take the water of its 
own accord, directly the flood tide overtook it. 
John Block satisfied himself that it was firmly 
moored and was in no danger of drifting out 
to sea. 

Then both went up the beach again into the 
avenue, and rejoined Frank, who was waiting 
for them in the court-yard. 


204 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


Informed of what they had found, he was 
overjoyed. Fritz left him with the boatswain 
to keep watch over the entrances to the yard. 

The news he brought made joy upstairs. 

About half past nine all went down to the 
foot of the mangrove tree. 

Frank and John Block had seen nothing sus¬ 
picious. Silence reigned round Falconhurst. 
The slightest sound could have been heard, for 
there was not a breath of air. 

With Fritz and Frank and Captain Gould in 
front, they crossed the court-yard and the 
clearing, and filing under cover of the trees in 
the avenue they reached the beach. 

It was as deserted as it had been two hours 
before. 

The flood tide had already lifted the boat, 
which was floating at the end of its rope. 
Nothing now remained but to get into it, un¬ 
moor it, and push off into the current. 

Jenny, Dolly, Susan, and the child im¬ 
mediately took their places in the stern. The 
others crouched between the seats, and Fritz 
and Frank took the paddles. 

It was just ten o’clock, and, as there was no 
moon, they hoped they might get across 
unseen. 

In spite of the great darkness, they would 
have no difficulty in making straight for the 
island. 


SHARK’S ISLAND 205 

The moment the pirogue was caught by the 
current it was carried towards it. 

All kept silence. Not a word was exchanged, 
even under breath. Every heart was gripped 
by excitement. 

The flood tide could not be relied upon to 
take them straight to Shark’s Island. About 
a mile from the shore it bore away towards the 
mouth of elackal River, to run up Deliverance 
Bay. 

So Fritz and Frank paddled vigorously to¬ 
wards the dark mass of rock, where no sound or 
light could be detected. 

But someone would certainly be on guard 
within the battery. Was there not a danger 
of the canoe being seen and shot at, under the 
misapprehension that the savages were making 
an attempt to get possession of the island 
under cover of the night ? 

Actually, the boat was not more than five or 
six cables’ length away when a light flashed 
out at the spot where the guns stood under 
their shed. 

Was it the flash from a gun? Was the air 
about to be rent by an explosion? 

And then, caring no longer whether the sav¬ 
ages heard him or not, the boatswain stood up 
and shouted in stentorian tones: 

4 ‘ Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! ’ ’ 

“Friends—we are friends!” shouted Cap¬ 
tain Gould. 


206 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


And Fritz and Frank together called again 
and yet again : 

“It’s we! It’s we! It’s we!” 

The instant they touched the rocks they fell 
into the arms of their friends. 


CHAPTER XIY 


A PERILOUS PLIGHT 

A FEW minutes later the two families— 
complete this time—-with Captain Harry 
Gould and the boatswain, were together 
in the store-house in the middle of the island, 
five hundred paces from the battery knoll over 
which the flag of New Switzerland floated. 

Fritz, Frank, and Jenny were clasped to the 
hearts of M. and Mme. Zermatt and covered 
with kisses; James, Holly, Susan, and Bob 
were unable to extricate themselves from the 
embraces of Mr. and Mrs. Wolston; and much 
hand-shaking was exchanged with Captain 
Gould and the boatswain. 

Then they had to exchange stories of the fif¬ 
teen months which had passed since the day 
when the Unicorn disappeared behind the 
heights of False Hope Point, bearing away 
Jenny Montrose, Fritz, Frank, and Dolly. 

But before recalling all these past events, 
it was necessary to talk of the present. 

For although they were reunited now, the 
two families were none the less in a serious and 
perilous position. The savages must ulti- 

207 


208 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


mately become masters of this island when the 
ammunition and provisions were exhausted, 
unless help came. And whence could M. Zer¬ 
matt and his people expect help? 

First of all Fritz told briefly the story of the 
Flag’s castaways. 

“And where are the savages ?” Fritz asked, 
as he came to the end of telling how they had 
seen the savages. 

“At Rock Castle,” M. Zermatt replied. 

“Many of them?” 

“A hundred at least; they came in fifteen 
pirogues—probably from the Australian 
coast.” 

“Thank God you were able to escape from 
them!” Jenny exclaimed. 

“Yes, indeed, dear child,” M. Zermatt re¬ 
plied. “As soon as we saw the canoes making 
for Deliverance Bay, we took refuge on 
Shark’s Island, thinking that we might be able 
to defend ourselves here against an attack by 
them.” 

“Papa,” said Frank, “the savages know 
now that you are on this island.” 

“Yes, they do,” M. Zermatt answered, “but 
thank God, they have not succeeded in landing 
here yet, and our old flag is still flying!” 

The following is a very brief summary of 
what had happened since the time at which the 
first part of this narrative ended. 

On the return of the dry season, after the ex- 


A PERILOUS PLIGHT 


209 


peditions which resulted in the discovery of the 
Montrose River, a reconnaissance was carried 
out as far as the range of mountains, where 
Mr. Wolston, Ernest and Jack planted the 
British flag on the summit of Jean Zermatt 
peak. That happened some ten or twelve days 
before the boat arrived on the southern coast 
of the island, and if the expedition had been 
carried beyond the range they might have met 
Captain Gould at Turtle Bay. But Mr. Wol¬ 
ston and the two brothers had not ventured 
across the desert plateau. 

The newcomers were told how Jack, carried 
away by his wild desire to capture a young ele¬ 
phant, had fallen into the midst of savages, 
who made him prisoner. After escaping from 
them, he had brought back the grave news of 
their presence on the island. 

Thoroughly alarmed, the Zermatts and 
Wolstons made plans in anticipation of an 
attack upon Rock Castle, and maintained a 
watch day and night. 

For three months, however, nothing hap¬ 
pened. The savages did not appear. It seemed 
that they had finally left the island. 

But there was matter of new anxiety in the 
fact that the Unicorn, due to arrive in Sep¬ 
tember or October, made no appearance off 
New Switzerland. In vain did Jack go many 
times to the top of Prospect Hill to look out for 
the return of the corvette. On each occasion 


210 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 

he had to come back to Rock Castle without 
having seen her. 

It should be mentioned here that the ship 
observed by Mr. Wolston, Ernest, and Jack 
from the summit of Jean Zermatt peak was no 
other than the Flag, as could be proved by com¬ 
parison of dates. Yes, it was the three-master 
which had fallen into the hands of Robert 
Borupt. After approaching the island, she 
had sailed to the Pacific Ocean, through the 
Sunda Seas, never to be heard of again. 

The last weeks of the year brought them to 
despair. After the lapse of fifteen months, all 
abandoned hope of ever seeing the Unicorn 
again. Mme. Zermatt, Mrs. Wolston, and 
Hannah mourned their lost ones. None had 
courage left for anything. Nothing seemed of 
any use. 

It was only after this long delay, that they 
took it for granted that the Unicorn had been 
wrecked, lost with all hands, and that nothing 
more would ever be heard of her, either in Eng¬ 
land or in the Promised Land! 

For if the corvette had accomplished her 
outward voyage without mishap, after a call at 
the Cape of Good Hope lasting a few days, she 
would have reached Portsmouth, her destina¬ 
tion, within three months. From there, a few 
months later, she would have sailed for New 
Switzerland, and several emigrant ships would 
have been despatched soon after her to the 


A PERILOUS PLIGHT 


211 


English colony. The fact that no ship had 
visited this portion of the Indian Ocean meant 
that the Unicorn had foundered in the danger¬ 
ous seas that lie between Australia and Africa 
before she had reached her first port of call, 
Cape Town; it meant, too, that the existence of 
the island was still unknown, and would re¬ 
main unknown, unless the chances of naviga¬ 
tion brought some other ship into these remote 
seas which, at this period, lay within none of 
the maritime routes. 

During the first half of the dry season 
neither M. Zermatt nor Mr. Wolston thought of 
leaving Rock Castle. As a rule they spent the 
finest part of the year at Falconhurst, reserv¬ 
ing a week each for the farms at Wood Grange, 
Sugar-cane Grove, Prospect Hill, and the 
hermitage at Eberfurt. On this occasion they 
limited themselves to the brief visits necessi¬ 
tated by their duty to the animals. They made 
no attempt to explore the other portions of the 
island outside the district of the Promised 
Land. Jack contented himself with hunting in 
the immediate neighbourhood of Rock Castle, 
leaving Whirlwind and Storm and Grumbler 
idle. Various works which Mr. Wolston had 
planned to do, to which his engineering instinct 
had moved him, were left unattempted. 

What was the use? In those four little 
words was summed up a volume of despond¬ 
ency. 


212 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


So when they came to celebrate the festival 
of Christmas—kept with joy so many years— 
tears were in the eyes of all, and prayers rose 
for those who were not with them! 

Thus the year 1817 opened. In that splendid 
summer season Nature was more lavish with 
her gifts than she had ever been before. But 
her generosity far exceeded the requirements 
of seven persons. The great house seemed 
empty, now that those they had expected could 
he looked for no longer! 

And yet there came at times faint hopes that 
everything was not lost irreparably. Could the 
delay of the Unicorn be explained in no other 
way than by shipwreck with loss of all hands ? 
Perhaps she had prolonged her stay in Europe. 
Perhaps quite soon they would see her topsails 
on the horizon, and the long pennon streaming 
from her mainmast. 

It was in the second week of January of this 
most gloomy year that M. Zermatt saw a flotilla 
of pirogues round Cape East, and making for 
Deliverance Bay. Their appearance caused 
no great surprise, for after Jack had fallen 
into their hands, the savages could no longer 
be unaware that the island was inhabited. 

In less than two hours the tide would bring 
the pirogues to the mouth of Jackal River. 
Manned by something like a hundred men, for, 
of course, the whole party that had landed on 
the island must have joined in this expedition, 


A PERILOUS PLIGHT 213 

Low would it be possible to offer them serious 
resistance ? 

Would it be well to take refuge at Falcon- 
burst, Wood Grange, Prospect Hill, Sugar¬ 
cane Grove, or even at tbe hermitage at Eber- 
furt? Would they be any safer there? As 
soon as they had set foot on this rich domain 
of the Promised Land, the invaders would be 
sure to go all over it! Ought they to seek a 
more secret shelter in the unknown regions of 
the island, and would there be any certainty 
that they would not be discovered even there ? 

Then Mr. Wolston suggested that they 
should abandon Rock Castle in favour of 
Shark’s Island. If they put off in the long 
boat behind the point of Deliverance Bay, and 
went along the Falconhurst shore, they might 
perhaps be able to get to the island before the 
pirogues arrived. There, at any rate, under 
the protection of the two cannon in the battery, 
they might defend themselves, if the natives 
attempted to set foot on the island. 

Besides, if there were not time to take over 
the stores and provisions needed for a long 
stay, the store-house had beds and could ac¬ 
commodate the two families. The boat could 
be laden with articles of prime necessity. And 
further, as has been related before, Shark’s 
Island had been planted with mangroves, 
palms, and other trees and was used as a park 
for a herd of antelopes, while a limpid stream 


214 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


assured an abundant supply of water, even 
during the very hottest season. 

There would thus be nothing to fear on the 
score of food for several months. Whether or 
not the two four-pounder carronades would be 
sufficient to repulse the flotilla if it made an 
attack in full force upon Shark’s Island, no¬ 
body could say. The natives, of course, could 
have no knowledge of the power of these arms, 
whose reports would spread panic among them, 
not to mention the bullets and balls which the 
two guns and the carbines would rain upon 
them. But if even half of them succeeded in 
landing on the island there would be little hope. 

There was not a moment to lose. Jack and 
Ernest brought round the boat to the mouth of 
Jackal Eiver. Boxes of preserves, cassava, 
rice and flour, and also arms and ammunition 
were taken down to it. Then M. and Mme. 
Zermatt, Mr. and Mrs. Wolston, Ernest and 
Hannah got into it, while Jack took his seat 
in his canoe which would enable him, if need 
arose, to establish communication between the 
island and the shore. The animals, except the 
two dogs, had to be left at Eock Castle. The 
jackal, ostrich, and the onager were set at lib¬ 
erty. They would be able to find their own 
food. 

The boat left the mouth of the river just as 
the pirogues came into sight off Whale Island. 
But it ran no risk of being seen in this portion 


A PERILOUS PLIGHT 


215 


of the sea lying between Rock Castle and 
Shark’s Island. 

Mr. Wolston and Ernest rowed, while M. 
Zermatt steered in such a way as to profit by 
certain backwaters which enabled them to 
make headway against the rising tide without 
excessive exertion. Nevertheless, for a mile 
they had to struggle hard not to be carried 
back towards Deliverance Bay, and it was 
three quarters of an hour before the boat 
slipped in among the rocks and anchored at the 
foot of the battery knoll. 

They at once unloaded the chests, arms, and 
various articles brought from Rock Castle, 
which they deposited in the store-house. Mr. 
Wolston and Jack went to the battery, and 
took up their posts there to keep watch over 
the approaches to the island. 

The flag flying from the signal mast was im¬ 
mediately pulled down. Nevertheless, it was to 
be feared that the savages had seen it, since 
their canoes were not more than a mile away. 

Thus they had to remain on the defensive in 
anticipation of an immediate attack. 

The attack did not take place. When the 
pirogues were off the island, they turned 
southwards and the current took them in to¬ 
wards the mouth of Jackal River. After the 
savages had landed, the canoes were taken into 
shelter in the little creek where the pinnace 
lay at her moorings. 


216 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


This was the position of affairs. For a fort- 
night the savages had been in possession of 
Eock Castle, and it did not appear that they 
had sacked the house. It was different at Fal- 
conhurst, and from the top of the knoll M. 
Zermatt had seen them chasing the animals, 
after they had wrought havoc in the rooms and 
store-houses. 

But there was soon no doubt that the band 
had discovered that Shark’s Island was serv¬ 
ing as a refuge for the inhabitants of the 
island. On several occasions half-a-dozen of 
the canoes came across Deliverance Bay and 
made towards the island. Several shots sent 
among them by Ernest and Jack sank one or 
two and put the others to flight. But from that 
moment it was necessary to watch day and 
night. A night attack would be very difficult 
to repulse. 

M. Zermatt hoisted the flag at the top of the 
hill again, for the improbable might happen, 
and a ship might come within sight of New 
Switzerland! 


CHAPTER XV 

FIGHTING FOR LIFE 

T HE last hours of this night of the 24th of 
January were spent in conversation. 
The two families had so much to say, so 
many memories to recall, so many fears for 
the future to discuss! No one thought of going 
to sleep, except little Bob. But until daybreak 
M. Zermatt and his companions did not relax 
their keen vigilance, relieving one another on 
duty near the two carronades, one loaded with 
ball, the other with grape-shot. 

Shark’s Island was larger than Whale 
Island, which lay two and a half miles away to 
the north, to the entrance to Flamingo Bay. It 
was an oval, about half a mile long and a quar¬ 
ter of a mile across at its widest part, thus hav¬ 
ing a circumference of something under two 
miles. By day it had been comparatively easy 
to keep watch over it, and as it was of the ut¬ 
most importance that equally effective watch 
should be maintained from sunset to sunrise, it 
was decided, on Captain Gould’s suggestion, 
that the whole of the shore should be patrolled. 

Dawn came, and no alarm had been raised. 
Although the savages knew that the island was 

217 


218 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


held by a little garrison, they had no idea that 
it had been reinforced and was in a position 
to offer them sterner resistance. But it would 
not be long before they discovered that one of 
their canoes had disappeared—that which had 
taken Captain Gould and his party from Fal- 
conhurst beach to Shark’s Island. 

“They may think,” Fritz suggested, “that 
the canoe has been carried away by the out¬ 
going tide.” 

“Anyhow,” M. Zermatt replied, “let us keep 
a careful lookout. As long as the island is not 
invaded we have nothing to fear. Although 
there are fifteen of us, we have plenty of food 
for a long time, with the reserves in the store¬ 
house, not to mention the herd of antelopes. 
The spring is inexhaustible, and of ammuni¬ 
tion we have enough, provided we are not at¬ 
tacked very often.” 

“What the deuce!” John Block exclaimed. 
“These tailless apes surely won’t stay for ever 
on the island!” 

“Who can tell?” Mme. Zermatt answered. 
“If they have settled down in Rock Castle, 
they will never leave it. Oh! our poor dear 
house, prepared to receive all of you, my chil¬ 
dren, and now in their power!” 

“Mother,” said Jenny, “I do not think they 
have destroyed anything at Rock Castle, for 
they have no interest in doing so. We shall 
find our home in good condition, and we shall 


FIGHTING FOR LIFE 219 

resume our life together there, and with the 
help of God-” 

“Yes, of God,” Frank added, “Who will not 
forsake us after having brought us all together 
again as by a miracle.” 

“Ah! If only I could work a miracle!” Jack 
exclaimed. 

“What would you do, Mr. Jack?” the boat¬ 
swain enquired. 

“To begin with,” the young man replied, “I 
would jolly well make these rascals decamp 
before they tried to land on this island, many 
of them as there are.” 

“And then?” Harry Gould asked. 

“Then, captain, if they continued to infest 
our island with their presence, I would make 
either the Unicorn or another ship show its 
colours at the entrance to Deliverance Bay.” 

“But that would not be a miracle, Jack 
dear,” Jenny said; “that is an event which 
will surely come to pass. One of these days 
we shall hear the guns saluting the new Eng¬ 
lish colony.” 

“Why, it is surprising that no ship has come 
already!” Mr. Wolston agreed. 

1 ‘ Patience! ” John Block replied. 6 ‘ Every¬ 
thing comes in its own good time.” 

“God grant it!” sighed Mme. Zermatt, 
whose confidence was shaken by her many 
trials. 

And so, after having organised their life in 


220 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


New Switzerland, here were the two families 
brought down to making another start on a 
tiny islet, a mere annex to their island! How 
long would they be prisoners’on it, and might 
they not fall into hostile hands if help did not 
reach them from outside ? 

They proceeded to settle down for a stay 
perhaps of weeks, possibly even of months. 
As the store-house was large enough to accom¬ 
modate fifteen people, Mme. Zermatt and Mrs. 
Wolston, Jenny, Susan, and her child, Han¬ 
nah and Dolly were to sleep in the beds in 
the inner room while the men occupied the 
outer one. 

Now, at the height of summer, the nights 
were warm, following the hot days. A few 
armfuls of grass dried in the sun were all that 
the men required, especially as they had to 
keep guard in turns, from evening until morn¬ 
ing, upon the approaches to the island. 

There was no occasion for anxiety with re¬ 
gard to the food supply. Of rice, tapioca, 
flour, smoked meat, and dried fish, such as 
salmon and herrings, the stores would suffice 
for the daily requirements of six months, with¬ 
out taking into account the fresh fish that 
could be caught at the foot of the rocks. The 
mangroves and palms on the island bore fruit 
in any quantity. There were two kegs of 
brandy to make an addition to the fresh and 
limpid water of the spring. 


FIGHTING FOR LIFE 


221 


The only thing which might run short—and 
that possibility was serious—was ammunition, 
although they had brought some more over in 
the boat. If, as a consequence of repeated at¬ 
tacks, powder, bullets and cannon balls ran 
out, defence would cease to be possible. 

While M. Zermatt and Ernest helped the 
women to make everything as comfortable as 
possible, Mr. Wolston and Captain Gould, the 
boatswain and Fritz and Jack and Frank sur¬ 
veyed Shark’s Island on foot. Almost all 
round the coast it was easily accessible on lit¬ 
tle beaches lying between the projecting points 
of the coast-line. The best protected part was 
that commanded by the battery knoll, which 
rose at the south-west extremity, overlooking 
Deliverance Bay. At its foot there were enor¬ 
mous rocks, among which it would be very 
difficult to effect a landing. Everywhere else, 
light boats, such as these pirogues were, could 
find quite enough water to enable them to reach 
land. Consequently it was indispensable that 
they should keep all the approaches to the 
island under careful supervision. 

In the course of their inspection Fritz and 
Frank had opportunity to observe the fine con¬ 
dition of the plantations. The mangroves, 
palms, and pines were in full fruit. Thick 
grass carpeted the pastures where the herd 
of antelopes capered and played. Many birds, 
flitting from tree to tree, filled the air with 


222 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


their myriad cries. The magnificent firma¬ 
ment poured light and warmth upon the sur¬ 
rounding sea. 

The day after that on which the two fami¬ 
lies had taken refuge on the island, a bird ar¬ 
rived, to receive the warmest of welcomes. It 
was the albatross of Burning Rock, which 
Jenny had found again at Turtle Bay, and 
which had flown away from the top of Jean 
Zermatt peak in the direction of the Promised 
Land. When it arrived, the piece of thread 
that was still fastened round one of its legs 
attracted Jack’s attention, and he caught the 
bird without any trouble. But, unfortunately, 
on this occasion, the albatross brought no 
tidings. 

The men went up to the battery. From the 
top of the knoll an uninterrupted view could 
be obtained north as far as False Hope Point, 
east as far as Cape East, and south as far 
as the end of Deliverance Bay. To west, about 
two miles away, ran the long line of trees which 
bordered the shore between Jackal River and 
the Falconhurst woods. But they could not 
see whether the natives were roaming about 
the Promised Land. 

Just at this moment, at the mouth of De¬ 
liverance Bay, a few canoes came paddling out 
to sea, keeping well beyond range of the guns 
in the battery. By this time the savages had 
learned the danger of coming too near Shark’s 


FIGHTING FOE LIFE 


223 


Island, and if they should attempt to land 
upon it they would most certainly wait for a 
very dark night. 

Looking out to the open main in the north¬ 
ward, one saw nothing but deserted boundless 
space, and it was from that quarter that the 
Unicorn, or any other ship despatched from 
England, must appear. 

After having satisfied themselves that the 
battery was in order, the men were just pre¬ 
paring to come down, when Captain Gould 
asked: 

“Is there not a powder magazine at Rock 
Castle ?” 

“Yes,” Jack answered, “and I wish to good¬ 
ness it were here instead of there! The three 
barrels that the Unicorn left us are in it.” 

“Where are they?” 

“In a little cavity at the end of the orchard.” 

The boatswain guessed the captain’s 
thought. 

“Probably,” he said, “those rascals may 
have discovered that magazine?” 

“It is to be feared they may,” Mr. Wolston 
answered. 

“What is most to be feared,” Captain Gould 
declared, “is that in their ignorance they may 
blow up the house.” 

“And themselves with it!” Jack exclaimed. 
“Well, if Rock Castle had to go to blazes in 
the explosion, it would be one solution, for I 


224 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


imagine that those left of the filthy creatures 
would decamp, without any heart to come 
back!” 

Leaving the boatswain on sentry-go at the 
battery, the others went back to the store¬ 
house. Breakfast was eaten together; how 
happy a meal it would have been if all the 
party had been gathered in the big hall at Rock 
Castle! 

The next four days brought no change in the 
situation. Beyond keeping proper watch over 
the island, they did not know how to fill the 
long hours. How different everything would 
have been if the Unicom had not been com¬ 
pelled to put in to Cape Town for repairs. 
They would all have been settled down at Rock 
Castle more than two months ago! And now 
that Fritz and Jennv were married, who could 
say that another wedding would not be cele¬ 
brated soon, the union of Ernest and Hannah, 
which the corvette’s chaplain might have 
blessed in the chapel of Rock Castle ? There 
might have been whispers of a third union— 
by and by—when Dolly should be eighteen. 

Everyone fought bravely against despond¬ 
ency. As for John Block, he had lost none of 
his native good humour. They took long 
walks among the plantations. They watched 
Deliverance Bay, although no attack by the 
pirogues was to be apprehended while the sun 
was in the sky. Then, with night, all their 


FIGHTING FOR LIFE 225 

anxiety returned, anticipating an attack in 
force. 

So while the women retired within the sec¬ 
ond room of the store-house, the men made the 
rounds of the shore, ready to concentrate at 
the foot of the knoll if the enemy approached 
the island. 

On the 29th of January, during the morn¬ 
ing, there was still nothing unusual to he noted. 
The sun rose in a horizon undimmed by the 
faintest haze. The day would be very hot, and 
the light sea-breeze could hardly last until the 
evening. 

After the mid-day meal Captain Gould and 
Jack left the store and went to relieve Ernest 
and Mr. Wolston, who were on sentry-go at 
the battery. 

Those two were just coming away when Cap¬ 
tain Gould stopped them. 

“ There are several canoes at the mouth of 
Jackal River,” he said. 

“They are probably going fishing as usual,” 
Jack replied. “They will take care to go by 
out of range of our guns.” 

Jack was scanning the place through the 
telescope. 

“Ah!” he exclaimed. “There are a lot of 
canoes this time. Wait: five—six—nine; and 
two more coming out of the creek; eleven— 
twelve! Can the whole fleet be going fishing ?” 


226 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


“ Perhaps they are getting ready to attack 
us,” Mr. Wolston said. 

“We will be on our guard,” said Captain 
Gould; “let us go and warn the others.” 

“Let us see first which way the canoes are 
going,” Mr. Wolston replied. 

“Anyhow, all our guns are ready,” Jack 
added. 

During the few hours that Jack had spent 
in the hands of the savages he had observed 
that their pirogues were in number fifteen, 
each able to carry seven or eight men. Twelve 
of these canoes could now be counted, round¬ 
ing the point of the creek. With the help of 
the telescope they were able to calculate that 
the whole band of savages had gone aboard, 
and that there could not be a single aborigine 
remaining at Rock Castle. 

“Can they be clearing out at last?” Jack 
exclaimed. 

“It isn’t very likely,” Ernest answered. 
“More likely that they mean to pay a visit to 
Shark’s Island.” 

“When does the ebb begin?” Captain Gould 
enquired. 

“At half-past one,” Mr. Wolston told him. 

“Then it will soon make itself felt, and as 
it will be in the favour of the canoes we shall 
then know what to expect.” 

Ernest went to inform M. Zermatt, his 
brothers, and the boatswain, and ail came and 


FIGHTING FOR LIFE 227 

took up their posts under the hangar of the 
battery. 

It was a little after one o’clock and, with the 
ebb only just beginning to run, the pirogues 
moved but slowly along the east coast. They 
kept as far away from the island as possible, 
in order to escape the projectiles whose range 
and power they now knew very well. 

“Yet—suppose it were a final departure!” 
said Frank again. 

“Then good luck to them and good-bye!” 
said Jack. 

“And here’s hoping we shall never see them 
back!” John Block added. 

As yet no one would venture to prophesy 
such a happy contingency. Were not the ca¬ 
noes only waiting for the ebb to run strongly 
in order to make for the island? 

Fritz and Jenny stood side by side, watch¬ 
ing in silence, hardly daring to believe that the 
situation was drawing to so immediate an end. 

It soon became apparent that the canoes 
were feeling the action of the out-going tide. 
Their speed increased, although they did not 
cease to hug the coast, as if it were the natives’ 
intention to go round Cape East. 

At half-past three the fleet was midway be¬ 
tween Deliverance Bay and Cape East. At 
six o’clock there could be no further doubt 
on the matter. The last boat rounded the cape 
and disappeared behind the point. 


228 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


Neither M. Zermatt nor anyone else had 
left the knoll for a moment. 

What relief was theirs when not a single 
pirogue remained in sight! At last the island 
was freed from the savages’ presence! The 
whole party would be able to settle down in 
Hock Castle again. Perhaps there would be 
only trifling damage to make good. They would 
do nothing but watch for the arrival of the 
Unicom! Their last fears were forgotten, 
and, after all, they were all together again 
after surviving so many dreadful trials! 

“Shall we start for Hock Castle?” Jack ex¬ 
claimed, eager to quit the island. 

“Yes, yes!” said Dolly no less eagerly. 
Frank had just joined her. 

“Would it not be better to wait until to¬ 
morrow?” Jenny suggested. “What do you 
think, Fritz dear?” 

“What Mr. Wolston and Captain Gould and 
papa think,” Fritz replied; “and that cer¬ 
tainly is to spend this next night here.” I 

“Yes,” said M. Zermatt. “Before we re¬ 
turn to Eock Castle we must be absolutely 
sure that the savages have po intention of 
going back there.” 

“They have gone to the devil already,” Jack 
exclaimed, “and the devil never lets go of any¬ 
thing he has once got in his claws! Isn’t that 
so, good old Block?” 


FIGHTING FOB LIFE 229 

“Yes—sometimes,” the boatswain an¬ 
swered. 

Despite Jack's protests and arguments, it 
was decided to postpone the start until the 
morrow, and all assembled at the last meal 
which they expected to take on Shark’s Island. 

It was a very merry one, and when the eve¬ 
ning came to an end all were ready for bed. 

Everything suggested that this night of the 
29th of January would be as tranquil as the 
many others spent in the quietude of Rock 
Castle and Falconhurst. 

Nevertheless, neither M. Zermatt nor his 
companions would depart from their custom-r 
ary caution, although all danger seemed to 
have gone with the last of the canoes. It was 
therefore arranged that some should make the 
usual nightly rounds while the others remained 
on guard at the battery. 

As soon as the women and Bob had gone 
into the store, Jack, Ernest, Frank, and John 
Block, with their guns over their shoulders, 
set out to the north end of the island. Fritz 
and Captain Gould went up the knoll and took 
their place under the hangar, as it was their 
turn to go on guard until sunrise. 

Mr. Wolston, M. Zermatt, and James stayed 
in the store, where they were free to sleep 
until dawn. 

The night was a dark one, with no moon. 
The atmosphere was thick with the evapora- 


230 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


tions from the heated earth. The breeze had 
fallen at evening. Profound silence reigned. 
Nothing was audible save the surf of the in¬ 
coming tide, which began to flow about eight 
o’clock. 

Harry Gould and Fritz sat side by side, re¬ 
calling memories of all the events, good and 
ill, that had followed each other after the Flag 
had cast them adrift. From time to time one 
or other of them went out and looked care¬ 
fully about, more especially in the direction 
of the dark arm of the sea lying between the 
two capes. 

Nothing disturbed their utter solitude until, 
at two o’clock in the morning, the captain and 
Fritz were startled out of their conversation 
by a report. 

“A gun!” said Harry Gould. 

“Yes: fired over there,” Fritz answered, 
pointing to the north-west of the island. 

“What’s up, then?” Captain Gould ex¬ 
claimed. 

Both rushed out of the hangar and peered 
for any light in the midst of the profound 
darkness. 

Two other reports rang out, nearer this time 
than the first one. 

“The canoes have come back,” said Fritz. 

And leaving Harry Gould at the battery he 
ran to the store at top speed. 


FIGHTING FOR LIFE 231 

M. Zermatt and Mr. Wolston had heard the 
reports, and were already on the threshold. 

“What is the matter ?” M. Zermatt asked 
sharply. 

“I am afraid, papa, that the savages have 
tried to effect a landing,’ 7 Fritz answered. 

44 And the rascals have succeeded!” ex¬ 
claimed Jack, who now approached with Ern¬ 
est and the boatswain. 

44 They are on the island?” said Mr. Wol¬ 
ston. 

4 4 Their canoes touched the north-east point 
just at the very moment we got there,” said 
Ernest, 4 4 and our shots were not enough to 
frighten them off. And now nothing remains 
but-” 

44 To defend ourselves!” Captain Gould fin¬ 
ished for him. 

The ladies had just left their room. In an¬ 
ticipation of an immediate attack they had to 
carry all the arms, ammunition and stores they 
could, and get to the battery as quickly as pos¬ 
sible. 

The departure of the pirogues had been 
merely a ruse. Taking advantage of the in¬ 
coming tide, the savages had returned towards 
Shark’s Island, which they hoped to take by 
surprise. The manoeuvre had been highly suc¬ 
cessful. Although their presence was known 
and they had been welcomed with guns, they 
were in occupation of the point, whence it 



232 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


would be easy for them to get to the central 
store. 

The situation was thus desperate, for the 
pirogues had succeeded in landing the entire 
band. M. Zermatt and his companions could 
not offer a serious resistance to so large a 
number of assailants. That they must suc¬ 
cumb when their ammunition and supplies ran 
out was only too certain. 

They could do nothing but take refuge on 
the knoll, within the battery. That was the 
only place where there was any possibility of 
putting up a defence. 

The women and Bob crept under cover in 
the hangar which sheltered the two guns. They 
did not let a murmur escape them. 

For one moment M. Zermatt thought of 
carrying them over to the Falconhurst shore 
in the boat. But what would become of the 
unfortunate women if, after the islet had been 
invaded, their companions were unable to join 
them‘d Besides, they would never have con¬ 
sented to go. 

It was a little after four o’clock when a 
confused noise announced the presence of the 
savages, a couple of hundred yards away. 
Captain Gould, M. Zermatt, Mr. Wolston, 
Ernest, Frank, James, and the boatswain, 
armed with carbines, were ready to fire, while 
Fritz and Jack stood with matches lighted 
near the two little cannon, only waiting for 


FIGHTING FOR LIFE 233 

the moment to rake the slopes of the knoll 
with grape-shot. 

When the black shadows showed against 
the early light of dawn, Captain Gould gave 
the order in a low tone to fire in that direction. 

Seven or eight reports rang out, followed by 
horrible cries which proved that more than 
one bullet had found its billet in the crowd. 

Three attacks had to be repelled before sun¬ 
rise. In the last a score or so of natives suc¬ 
ceeded in reaching the crest of the knoll. Al¬ 
though some of them had been mortally hit, 
the carbines could no longer keep them in 
check, and but for a double discharge of the 
ordnance the battery would probably have 
been carried in this assault. 

At daylight the band withdrew among the 
trees, near the store, as if they meant to wait 
until the next night to renew the attack. 

Unfortunately the defenders had almost ex¬ 
hausted their cartridges. When they were re¬ 
duced to the two guns, which could only be 
directed towards the base of the knoll, how 
could they cover the summit? 

A council was held to consider the situation. 
If they could not carry on the resistance under 
these conditions, would it not be possible to 
leave Shark's Island, land on Falconhurst 
beach, and seek refuge within the Promised 
Land or in some other part of the island— 
all of them together, this time ? Or would it 


234 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


be better to make a rush on the savages and, 
with the advantage of carbines over bows and 
arrows, compel them to take to the sea again ? 
But M. Zermatt and his party were only nine 
against the scores who surrounded the knoll. 

Just at this moment, as if in answer to this 
last suggestion, the air was filled with the 
whistling of arrows, some of which stuck in 
the roof of the hangar, fortunately without 
wounding anyone. 

“The attack is beginning again I” said John 
Block. 

“Let’s get ready for them!” Fritz replied. 

This assault was the fiercest of all, for the 
natives were furious, and seemed no longer 
afraid to face the bullets and grape-shot. 
Moreover, the ammunition was almost ex¬ 
hausted, and the fire slackened. Several of 
the savages crawled up the knoll and got to 
the hangar. The two carronades fired point 
blank at them, cleared the ground of a few, 
and Fritz, Jack, Frank, James, and John 
Block fought hand to hand with the others. 
Then they retired over the corpses which 
strewed the foot of the hill. They had used 
a weapon between axe and club, which, in. 
their hands, was a formidable thing. 

Plainly the struggle approached its end. 
The last cartridges were spent. Numbers must 
tell. M. Zermatt and his party were trying 
to make a stand around the hangar, which 


235 


FIGHTING FOE LIFE 

must soon be entered. At grips with several 
natives, Fritz and Frank and Jack and Harry 
Gould were in imminent peril of being borne 
down to the foot of the hill. The fight would 
be over in a few minutes now, and defeat 
meant massacre, for they could expect no 
mercy from these savage foes. 

Just at this moment a report rang out off 
the island, borne by the wind from the north. 

The assailants heard it, for those in advance 
stopped. 

Fritz and Jack and the others at once ran 
back towards the hangar, one or two of them 
slightly wounded. 

“A gun!” Frank exclaimed. 

“And a gun from a ship—or I’m a Dutch¬ 
man!” the boatswain declared. 

“There is a ship in sight,” said M. Zermatt. 

“It is the Unicom Jenny replied. 

“And it’s God who has sent her now!” 
Frank murmured. 

The echoes of Falconhurst rang with a sec¬ 
ond detonation, much closer, and the savages 
recoiled into cover under the trees. 

Jack sprang to the flag-staff, and, nimble as 
any top-man, scrambled to the top of it. 

“Ship! Ship ahoy!” he yelled. 

All eyes were turned towards the north. 

Above False Hope Point the top-sails of a 
ship appeared, swelling in the morning breeze. 

A three-master, on the port tack, was ma- 


236 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


nceuvring to get round the point, which there¬ 
after was known as Cape Deliverance. 

From her mizzen-mast flew the flag of Great 
Britain! 

The women appeared stretching their hands 
to heaven in ardent gratitude. 

“What about those ruffians?” Fritz en¬ 
quired. 

“They’re running!” replied Jack, who had 
just slid down the flag-staff. 

“Yes, they’re running!” John Block added. 
“And if they don’t clear jolly quick, we’ll help 
them along with our last four-pounders.” 

And indeed, surprised by the detonations 
ringing from the north, scared by the sight of 
the ship coming round the point, the savages 
had fled to the point where their canoes were 
lying. They clambered into them, shoved off 
hard and paddled vigorously in the direction 
of Cape East. 

The boatswain and Jack went back into the 
hangar and trained the two guns upon them; 
and three canoes, cut in half, went to the bot¬ 
tom. 

Just as the ship, coming under full sail into 
the arm of the sea, was off Shark’s Island, she 
joined her heavy guns to those of the battery. 
Most of the pirogues failed to escape the rain 
of shot and shell, and only two succeeded in 
vanishing behind the cape, never to return. 



“Just as the ship was off Shark’s Island, she joined with her heavy guns.” 

(Tage 236) 




CHAPTER XVI 

CONCLUSION 

I T actually was the Unicorn which had just 
dropped anchor at the mouth of Deliver¬ 
ance Bay. All the repairs effected, Cap¬ 
tain Littlestone had left Cape Town after a 
stay of several months, and at last had reached 
New Switzerland, of which he was to take of¬ 
ficial possession in the name of England. 

Captain Littlestone now learned from Cap¬ 
tain Gould’s lips the events of which the Flag 
had been the stage. 

As for what had become of that vessel, 
whether Robert Borupt was playing pirate in 
the ill-famed waters of the Pacific, or whether 
he and his accomplices had perished in some 
furious tornado was destined never to be 
known, and was of little consequence to the 
islanders. 

It was an immense satisfaction to the two 
families when they found that the dwelling at 
Rock Castle had not been sacked. The natives 
had probably contemplated taking up their 
quarters there, intending to settle on the 
island. There was no damage done to the bed- 
237 


238 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


rooms or halls, no sign of pillage in the out¬ 
houses or stores, no havoc in the orchard or 
adjoining fields. 

They recovered all the domestic animals 
which had scattered in the neighbourhood, the 
buffaloes Storm and Grumbler, the ostrich 
Whirlwind, the monkey Nip, the onager Light- 
foot, the cow Paleface and her meadow com¬ 
panions, the bull Roarer and his stable com¬ 
panions, the asses Swift, Arrow, and Dart, the 
jackal, and Jenny’s albatross, which had flown 
across the arm of the sea between Shark’s 
Island and Rock Castle. 

As it could not be very long before several 
ships despatched from England would arrive 
with colonists and their stores, it became nec¬ 
essary to choose the site for new buildings. 
It was decided that these should be erected 
along the banks of Jackal River, up towards 
the fall. Rock Castle would thus be :the first 
village of the colony, pending the time when 
it should have grown into a town. No doubt 
in the future it would rank as the capital of 
New Switzerland, for it would be the most im¬ 
portant of the little towns which would grow 
up in the heart of the Promised Land, and 
beyond. 

The Unicorn was under orders to remain in 
Deliverance Bay until the emigrants arrived. 
So animation reigned along the coast from 
Falconhurst beach. 


CONCLUSION 


239 


Three weeks had not elapsed before a cere¬ 
mony, which it was agreed to make as brilliant 
as possible, brought together Commander Lit- 
tlestone and the officers and crew of his ship, 
Captain Harry Gould and the boatswain, and 
all the members of the Zermatt and Wolston 
families, now to be united to one another in 
still closer bonds. 

On that day the chaplain of the Unicorn 
celebrated in the chapel of Rock Castle the 
marriage of Ernest Zermatt and Hannah 
Wolston. It was the first wedding on the 
island of New Switzerland, but the future 
would no doubt see it followed by many others. 

And, in point of fact, two years later, Prank 
became the husband of Dolly Wolston. On 
this occasion it was not in the humble chapel 
that the pastor of the colony gave his blessing 
to the happy pair. The ceremony was held 
in, a church erected midway between JRock 
Castle and Falconhurst, in the avenue. The 
steeple, rising above the trees, was visible three 
miles out to sea. 

No need to dilate further upon the progress 
of New Switzerland! The fortunate isle saw 
the number of its inhabitants increasing every 
year. Deliverance Bay, well protected from 
the winds and waves, offered excellent anchor¬ 
age for ships, and among these the pinnace 
Elizabeth cut no bad figure. 

Regular communication with England was 


240 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


established. This inaugurated a most profit¬ 
able export trade. By that time there were 
four more villages, Wood Grange, Sugar-cane 
Grove, Eberfurt, and Prospect Hill. A har¬ 
bour was made at the mouth of the Montrose 
River, and another at Unicorn Bay, the latter 
connected with Deliverance Bay by a good 
carriage road. 

Three years after New Switzerland had been 
taken possession of by England her popula¬ 
tion exceeded two thousand. The British gov¬ 
ernment had left the colony her autonomy, and 
M. Zermatt was elected to the position of Gov- 
vernor of New Switzerland. Heaven grant 
that his successors may be as good as that ex¬ 
cellent and worthy man! 

A detachment of troops from India gar¬ 
risoned the island after fortifications had been 
constructed at Cape East and Cape Deliver¬ 
ance (formerly known as False Hope Point), 
so as to command the arm of the sea which gave 
access to Deliverance Bay. 

Of course, this had nothing to do with any 
fear of savages, neither those of the Andamans 
and Nicobars, nor those of the Australian 
coast. But New Switzerland’s position in 
these waters, besides offering excellent anchor¬ 
age for ships, was of real importance from a 
strategic point of view at the entrance to the 
Sunda Seas and the Indian Ocean. It was 


CONCLUSION 


241 


only proper, therefore, that it should be pro¬ 
vided with means of defence. 

Such is the complete history of this island 
from the day when a storm cast a father, 
mother and four children upon it. For twelve 
years that brave and intelligent family worked 
without ceasing, and set in operation all the 
energy of a virgin soil, which was rendered 
fruitful by the magic climate of the tropic 
regions. And so their prosperity had never 
ceased to grow nor their welfare to be in¬ 
creased, until the day when the arrival of the 
Unicorn enabled them to establish relations 
with the rest of the world. 

As has been related, a second family volun¬ 
tarily threw in its fortune with theirs, and 
materially and morally existence was never 
happier than in the fertile domain of the 
Promised Land. 

Then began a period of severe trial. Ill 
fortune fell upon these good people. They 
knew the fear of never seeing again those for 
whom they were waiting, and the peril of 
being attacked by a horde of savages! 

But even in the darkest hours of that un¬ 
happy time they never lost faith in Provi¬ 
dence. 

Then at‘last bright days returned, and 
never again are dark ones to be feared for the 
second fatherland of the two families. 

And now New Switzerland is flourishing 


242 THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG 


and will soon be too small to receive all those 
who are attracted to her. Her commerce is 
finding outlets in Europe as well as in Asia, 
thanks to the proximity of Australia, India, 
and the Netherlands possessions. Most fortu¬ 
nately the nuggets found in the gorge by the 
Montrose River proved to be very rare, and 
the colony was not invaded by gold-seekers, 
who usually leave nothing but disorder and 
misery in their train! 

The marriages which united the Zermatt and 
Wolston families have been blessed by Heaven. 
The grandparents will soon feel that they live 
again in their grandchildren. Only Jack is 
content with the nephews and nieces who 
clamber on his knees. He said he was a born 
uncle, and in that relation was certainly a 
great success. 

Though the island now forms part of the. 
colonial dominions of Great Britain, it has 
been allowed to retain its name of New Swit¬ 
zerland in honour of the Zermatt family. 


END OF “THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG” 


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